Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke resigns over former PM Najib’s conditional pardon, other DAP ministers to stay on

KUALA LUMPUR: Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Anthony Loke has announced his resignation as Malaysia’s Transport Minister in protest over the conditional royal pardon granted to jailed former prime minister Najib Razak.

The party’s other ministers will remain in Cabinet to maintain political stability, he said at a press conference on Saturday (Sep 19) evening after an emergency meeting of DAP’s Central Executive Committee. 

This came a day after Najib’s pardon was granted by the Federal Territories Pardons Board meeting chaired by the Malaysian king, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.

“As a party we have a stand, we feel this is difficult to accept for DAP and many Malaysians, hence we have discussed for three hours and debated, we have reached a decision,” Loke said, while reiterating that the party respects the king’s power to grant such a pardon.

When asked by journalists why the other DAP ministers were also not resigning, Loke said that it is aware of “political games” by “some parties and factions waiting for DAP to leave the government”.

This would cause instability in the unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and potentially leading to parliament being dissolved. 

“It is what our enemies want. We don’t want to give them the bullet to do what they want,” Loke said. 

“If every DAP minister resigns, we are (giving them what they want), but through this decision we are able to still make our stand (while maintaining political stability),” he added. 

The DAP secretary-general added that he will be submitting his resignation to PM Anwar and that he expects it to not adversely impact the functioning of the government and the transport ministry. 

Asked if his resignation would affect the ministry’s projects and policies, Loke said: “Ministers come and go. The ministry will continue to function as usual, and of course, I will need a little time because there is some outstanding work. I will discuss this with the Prime Minister.” 

“However, it should not take very long because, of course, the plans that have already been made and the projects that have already been implemented will continue, as the ministry does not stop functioning,” said Loke. 

“When a minister resigns, it is similar to when Parliament is dissolved, when there is an election, or when there is a change of minister. So, I do not see any problems affecting the operations of the Ministry of Transport,” he added. 

Loke also reiterated the party’s stance that Najib’s persecution due to his involvement in the 1MDB scandal is “kleptocracy” that has plagued Malaysia for a decade. 

“This is a major crisis that DAP has consistently fought against,” said Loke, who was flanked by other party leaders at the press conference.  

In a statement on Friday afternoon after Najib's pardon was announced, Loke had also said that the party would continue “defending the rule of law and the fight against corruption”.

Najib will be allowed to serve out the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest  - subject to him paying a fine of RM50 million (US$12.26 million), the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Office said earlier on Friday.

A solidarity fund launched for Najib by his party United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) raised more than RM634,000 within the first three hours, UMNO secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said in a Facebook post on Friday, adding that “many contributed as little as RM10 and RM50”.

The pardon decision puts Malaysia in "uncharted” legal territory", analysts told CNA - and could even pave the way for other convicted prisoners to seek similar treatment.

Analysts also previously said that a DAP withdrawal from the Cabinet would pose a serious threat to Anwar’s administration and could even force him to call an early general election.

The party holds 40 parliamentary seats in Malaysia’s 222-member lower house - the most seats in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, which also comprises Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Amanah Negara, which hold 29 and eight seats respectively.

Anwar’s unity government currently draws support from 76 PH MPs, 30 MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN), 23 MPs from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), eight from Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and seven other government-aligned lawmakers.

UMNO is BN’s lynchpin party.

Last month, DAP delegates voted overwhelmingly for its five full ministers and seven deputy ministers to remain in the government.

It decided to hold the vote after a drubbing in the November 2025 Sabah state election in which it lost in all the eight seats it contested.

DAP’s Cabinet members are Loke, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo, Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim, and Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.

There are 32 ministers and 30 deputy ministers in Malaysia’s Cabinet.