Anthony Loke says will remain as Malaysia’s transport minister until Najib begins house arrest

KUALA LUMPUR: Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Anthony Loke said on Tuesday (Sep 29) he will remain as Malaysia’s transport minister until jailed former premier Najib Razak begins his house arrest. 

Loke said he submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday when they met to discuss the matter further, local media reported.

“During the discussion, he asked me to continue carrying out my duties for the time being,” Loke told reporters on the sidelines of the Malaysia Maritime Week 2026.

“He will make a decision, but I said there also needs to be a timeframe. So the timeframe is that when Najib returns home, my resignation will take effect.” 

Loke – whose DAP is part of the governing Pakatan Harapan coalition with Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) – said his resignation was a party decision to convey its disagreement with the conditional royal pardon granted to Najib. 

The conditional pardon, granted after the Federal Territories Pardons Board chaired by Malaysia’s king met on Sep 18, allows Najib, 73, to serve the remainder of his six-year prison term at home, subject to him paying a fine of RM50 million (US$12.2 million). Najib’s current jail term runs until Aug 23, 2028.

On Sep 19, Loke announced he would resign as transport minister following an emergency meeting of DAP’s central executive committee.

Loke said the conditional pardon was “difficult to accept for DAP and many Malaysians”. The scandal involving state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) represents the “kleptocracy” that has plagued Malaysia for a decade and is a “major crisis that DAP has consistently fought against”, he said.

At his meeting with Anwar on Monday, Anwar suggested he should remain in his portfolio so long as the house arrest had not taken effect, Loke said.

“Maybe he will be released tomorrow. Who knows?” Loke said on Tuesday, as quoted by Malay Mail. 

Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party is crowdfunding to help pay his fine, and has raised some RM9.25 million so far. 

Najib’s lawyers have said a significant part of their client’s assets remains subject to freezing orders and enforcement proceedings. 

His son, Nizar Najib, said last Saturday that even if his father’s frozen assets were released, his family would still be unable to immediately raise the RM50 million. 

MIXED REACTIONS TO LOKE’S MOVE

Loke’s resignation has drawn mixed reactions from various political factions in Malaysia.

Those from PH have noted his track record as transport minister and called on him to stay, while detractors have said his gesture was merely “noise” and questioned if he would follow through with it.

Member of Parliament for Pasir Gudang Hassan Abdul Karim from PKR last week called on Anwar to persuade Loke to remain as transport minister to ensure the completion of several key infrastructure projects.

Former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng from DAP described Loke as “possibly the most effective transport minister” and said his departure from the federal Cabinet would be a major loss to the state.

Lim credited Loke for securing approval for more than RM21 billion in critical transport infrastructure for Penang. 

Meanwhile, opposition politician Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia has called Loke’s resignation “firecracker politics”.

He noted that Minister for Housing and Local Government Nga Kor Ming, also from DAP, had previously said he would resign if Najib was released without serving an appropriate sentence.

“Nga said the same thing before. He didn’t resign either. They act as if they’re going to take action, but nothing gets done. It’s firecracker politics. Lots of noise, then silence,” Sanusi said on Sep 20, as reported by Free Malaysia Today.