Umno supreme council members huddle to discuss Pardons Board's decision on Najib

Photo: FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of Umno supreme council are gathered at the Umno headquarters in World Trade Centre (WTC) on Saturday (Feb 3) to discuss the decision by the Pardons Board on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The meeting chaired by Umno president and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi saw supreme council members arriving one by one.

ALSO READ: Najib gets reduction in jail time, fine

Among those who attended were Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, Datuk Seri Nor Jazlan Mohamad, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin and Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.

"The meeting will discuss the latest political development due to the announcement of the reduction of Najib's sentence from the Pardons Board," said Ahmad Zahid.

ALSO READ: Najib gets his clemency, but still has to serve jail time

A Bumiputra Economy Congress Colloquium which was supposed to have been held today and attended by 2,000 Umno representatives from 191 Umno divisions nationwide was postponed to make way for the supreme council meeting.

On Feb 2, the Pardons Board announced that it had decided to commute convicted former prime minister Najib’s jail term from 12 years to six.

According to a statement by the board, Najib will be released on Aug 23, 2028, and the fine has been reduced to RM50mil from RM210mil.

"However, if the fine is not paid, a year will be added to the jail term, and the release date will then be on Aug 23, 2029," the Pardons Board secretariat said on Friday (Feb 2).