Malaysian deputy PM's graft discharge returns to court in major twist - Singapore News

MALAYSIA: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is facing new legal challenges after the Malaysian Bar won an appeal to challenge the Attorney General’s 2023 decision to drop 47 corruption charges against him in the Yayasan Akalbudi trial without acquitting him.

The Court of Appeal’s decision is an important one as it could have a potential impact when the High Court decides on Zahid’s separate application for formal acquittal in the Yayasan Akalbudi case.

In the May 7 decision, Datuk Faizah Jamaludin, who chaired a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal, said it was unanimously decided that the Malaysian Bar’s court challenge could proceed to be heard by the High Court.

The other two judges on the panel were Datuk Lim Hock Leng and Datuk Nadzarin Wok Nordin.

“Leave is granted to the Appellant to commence judicial review against the Attorney General’s (AG) impugned decision. The matter is remitted to the High Court for substantive hearing of the judicial review,” she said, referring to the Malaysian Bar as the appellant.

On December 2, 2023, the Malaysian Bar filed its court challenge via a judicial review application. On June 27, 2024, the High Court decided not to grant leave for the case to be heard.

Reporters were told by Lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan, who represented the Malaysian Bar, that the Bar also has a separate court challenge against the AG’s decision on January 8, 2026, to classify Zahid’s Yayasan Akalbudi case as “NFA” (No Further Action).

At the time of writing, there was no official record that the AG had filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s recent decision.

Why is this case important

The case against Zahid, the leader of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), has huge political significance.

The government headed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is in power thanks to a historic deal brokered in 2022 that allowed the Pakatan Harapan of Anwar to ally with Zahid’s Barisan Nasional (BN) and UMNO to form a new government after a hung parliament.

UMNO went through intense turmoil for joining the coalition, which included the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a long-time adversary of the Malay party.

Many UMNO members, including former Ministers and other high-profile figures, were fired from the party or had their membership suspended.

The ripples of the BN-Pakatan coalition are constantly felt, with jolts coming from the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).

Both parties had signified their intentions at one point or another to quit the BN coalition, stating they are uncomfortable working with DAP, for example.

After Zahid won the DNAA case in 2023, the local social media platforms were filled with rage from Pakatan Harapan supporters and users. Many apparent voters blamed Anwar for ‘freeing’ the UMNO leader to stay in power.

This time around, with the Malaysian Bar successfully obtaining the right to challenge the controversial DNAA, for the netizens, it is not different.

Commenters are flooding in, many with sighs of relief, declaring it is finally time for Zahid to face reality.

On Facebook, one user had this to say: “The Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision allowing the Malaysian Bar to challenge Zahid Hamidi’s DNAA is a significant development.

“If the challenge succeeds, it could open a massive can of worms over how the AGC exercised its prosecutorial discretion and expose questions many hoped would remain buried.

“For once, accountability may finally be catching up.”

Another user thought the truth, real truth, will now be known, saying: “Now the Malaysian Bar will go all out to prove these 47 cases [have] basis. Not 1 or 2, and hopefully there will be enough evidence to know the real truth!”

“VIPs and elites are not entitled to be treated differently under the law when they are proven to have done wrong. He can be good company for his mentor, Najib,” said another

For Anwar, if Zahid were to lose his case, he would not be deputy PM anymore, and this may altogether mean the collapse of the Madani-Pakatan-Barisan regime.

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