Malaysia’s Najib eyes political comeback as Malacca state goes to the polls

Local elections in Malacca mark first significant vote since Najib’s United Malays National Organisation returned to top seat of government three months ago

The former prime minister has been rehabilitating his image since the 1MDB financial scandal – and a strong win in Malacca would galvanise him politically

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Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak pictured during an interview in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:23pm, 19 Nov 2021Updated: 9:49pm, 19 Nov 2021

A crucial state election in Malaysia on Saturday could shape up into a catalyst for disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak to reinvent himself politically and his pro-Malay party to cement their power ahead of a general election due in 2023.

The polls in Malacca, located on the southwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, mark the first significant vote since Najib’s United Malays National Organisation returned to the top seat of government three months ago.

Najib was Malaysia’s prime minister from 2009 until the multibillion ringgit corruption scandal involving state fund 1MDB cost his party the 2018 election. He has since been rehabilitating his image through social media, gaining traction among followers with his jibes against the two governments that succeeded his. A strong win in Malacca would galvanise him politically.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s preoccupation with national matters means Najib could take all the credit from an Umno success in Malacca. Photo: Bernama/DPA

The state has been an Umno stronghold for the most part – slipping away only briefly in 2018 to a Pakatan Harapan-led coalition – and Najib has been at the forefront of the party’s election campaign, even as he is appealing a criminal conviction and faces dozens of corruption charges.

With Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob preoccupied with national matters, and Umno president Zahid Hamidi out of the country for medical reasons, Najib is set to take all the credit – or shoulder the blame – for the party’s fate when results come in on Saturday.