COMMENT | The road to a pardon is closed - for now

“For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.”

- Noam Chomsky, in his book Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World

COMMENT | The “pardon for Najib” juggernaut has been rolled out. It is not exactly thundering to its intended outcome but sputtering with loud accompanying voices.

As loud as they can be, the voices of the detractors and naysayers to such an outrageous thought are drowning the words of the proponents and the movers behind it.

Last week, the Umno supreme council asked the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to consider granting former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak a royal pardon.

Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said his party’s supreme council will also seek an audience with the King to present a memorandum asking for Najib to be pardoned.

In a statement, Asyraf said the memorandum was handed to the top leadership by the 191 Umno divisions and was also signed by the supreme council.

“The Supreme Council takes note of the grassroots’ concerns over the (Federal Court’s) decision (to dismiss Najib’s bid to review his conviction and sentence in the SRC case),” he said.

Never mind if the law does not allow a pardon application to be submitted by third parties on behalf of the prisoner, but it’s Umno and anything and everything which suits them is kosher.

Under Regulation 113 of the Prisons Regulations 2000, Umno has no locus standi or legal standing to submit an appeal for Najib’s pardon.

Petitioning the ruler

However, if one looks at this whole episode, it will be an exercise in futility. For one, it is a non-starter. It states...