SINGAPORE - A bid for house arrest by jailed former Malaysian premier Najib Razak has rattled the administration of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as his opponents and the Umno faction in his multi-coalition government are taking positions to benefit from the huge controversy.

The issue has thrown up questions of whether the government has been “hiding” a note from the former Malaysian king that decreed Najib should serve the remainder of his prison sentence at home, while the opposition is agitating for Datuk Seri Anwar to step down for mishandling the matter.

In a panel discussion organised by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore on Jan 9, politicians from both sides of the political divide gave differing views on the controversy.

A lawmaker from Mr Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition believes that the opposition has lost its “last chance” of toppling the administration by using the Najib house-arrest issue. A rally was attended by thousands of people on Jan 6 outside the Appeals Court in Putrajaya where Najib’s case was being heard.

The opposition parties are using the house-arrest issue to weaken the two-year old Malaysian government, saying they are only beginning to agitate on the matter.

Selangor PH lawmaker Wong Chen said the opposition has lost its “last chance” to mount an attempt to topple the government through the rally that was attended by thousands of people outside the court.

“I think Jan 6 was probably the last possible venue for the opposition to grab power, thank God it’s done,” he told the panel discussion titled, Malaysia – Madani at the Mid-Term: Closing Window for Reform?, part of ISEAS’s annual Regional Outlook Forum in Singapore. Mr Anwar dubs his administration the Unity government, or the Madani government, promoting it as a responsive and inclusive administration.

“The question then is, can the Unity government survive a full term? The answer is yes, if it (the economy) continues to grow,” Mr Wong said, adding that Malaysians are tired of the ongoing political “conflicts” over the past few years. The country’s next general election (GE) must be held by February 2028.

But opposition MP Saifuddin Abdullah from Pahang, who was also a panellist, said the house-arrest issue was in fact “the beginning of the last chance” for the opposition to topple Anwar’s government.

“We will of course need to wait for the next GE, but if there’s ...