Maika Elan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Nazir Razak, chairman of CIMB Group Holdings, in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016.
In January of 2016, Malaysia’s Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said Najib had committed no criminal offense. But globally, investigations have continued in locales as varied as U.S., Switzerland, Singapore and the Seychelles.
The next election will be the full country’s first chance to express their concerns over the 1MDB scandal at the ballot box.
CIMB’s Nazir said he expected the general election (GE) would be called late this year or early next year, and noted some concerns about how that would affect sentiment.
“Generally, ahead of the GE there can be a little bit of caution with investors, and consumers as well and I think that’s related to expectations of the results and at the moment, the picture’s not so clear,” Nazir said. “But I think it will evolve that the government most likely will get back in. So as that settles down, then I think sentiment will improve and things will pick up.”
Nazir’s brother Najib also leads the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, which has been in power since the country’s first election in the late 1950s, via a coalition government called Barisan Nasional (BN).
Malaysia’s opposition parties also tend to be fragmented, with infighting helping to solidify BN’s grip on power.
Additionally, opposition leaders can face various forms of harassment. In 2014, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was convicted and jailed for five years on sodomy charges, in a case he described as politically motivated. It’s the second time Anwar has been jailed on sodomy charges.
The Malaysian press can also be subject to government restrictions. Online news site Malaysian Insider, which was covering the 1MDB scandal, was forced to shut down in 2016 after the government blocked access to the site.
