Anthony Loke Resigns Cabinet Post Over Najib House Arrest — SkimNews
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- Anthony Loke resigned as Transport Minister on Sept 19 following a three-hour DAP leadership meeting, protesting the Sept 18 Pardons Board decision to allow Najib Razak to serve the remaining two years of his graft conviction under house arrest.
- DAP will keep its other leaders in their government posts despite the resignation, with Loke saying the party "does not want to give ammunition to our opponents" and does not want to risk the Anwar administration falling.
- The Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor, granted the early release contingent on Najib settling an outstanding RM50 million (S$15.6 million) fine; DAP respects royal pardon authority but argues no legal provision exists for convicted criminals to be placed under house arrest.
- DAP supplies more MPs to Anwar's multi-coalition government than any other party, and ruling partner UMNO had already been calling for an early general election before this decision.
- Pakatan Harapan has suffered successive state election losses — taking just 1 of 22 seats in Sabah in November 2025 (with DAP losing all six seats it previously held), plus defeats in Johor in July and Negeri Sembilan in August; Melaka is the next test, with polling expected by November.
- Najib Razak still faces a separate 15-year sentence in an ongoing 1MDB case under appeal, even as the anti-corruption plank built on that scandal powered PH's victories in the 2018 and 2022 general elections.
- Analyst Adib Zalkapli of Viewfinder Global Affairs argued Loke should have stayed in Cabinet and instead campaigned against UMNO and PAS for pushing Najib's release, warning the resignation makes DAP deputy chairman Nga Kor Ming a more visible target for Malay nationalists.
Why it matters: DAP supplies more MPs to Anwar's multi-coalition government than any other party, so even a single symbolic resignation puts visible strain on a coalition already reeling from three straight state election losses and now reversing course on the 1MDB anti-corruption plank that won it power in 2018 and 2022.
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