KUCHING, Sept 16: The Sarawak government should advise the Governor to revoke the honorifics awarded to jailed former prime minister Najib Razak, opines Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
He said Najib was awarded Sarawak’s second highest award, the Darjah Utama Yang Amat Mulia Bintang Kenyalang, which allows the latter to carry the title “Datuk Patinggi”.
Following the confirmation of Najib’s conviction by the Federal Court, Chong viewed that Najib was no longer eligible to hold the title.
“It is now beyond all doubt that Najib is a convict for having committed the crimes of abuse of power, breach of trust and money laundering.
“It was also mentioned in the judgment of the Court of Appeal that he is a ‘national embarrassment’.
“Therefore, to continue to allow him to carry the second highest award of the State will be desecrating the title of ‘Datuk Patinggi’ honorific of Sarawak,” said Chong in a statement today.
On Sept 12, the Selangor state titles awarded to Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor were revoked, stripping them respectively of the titles “Datuk Seri” and “Datin Paduka Seri”.
Later on Sept 15, the Penang state title “Dato’ Seri Utama” awarded to Najib in 2009 was also revoked. — DayakDaily
