Malaysian PM Muhyiddin need to not undermine the rule of law to hold on to power

For over four years, Najib Razak was among the most powerful voices of Malaysian politics. The child of a previous Prime Minister, a legislator for decades and an all-powerful Prime Minister for 9 years, he suffered the biggest setback in his eventful profession on Tuesday when a trial court discovered him guilty on 7 corruption charges in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) monetary scams. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $50 million. Billions of dollars were apparently taken from the 1MDB– a mutual fund he launched in 2009 when Prime Minister– by workers of the fund or of the government. The money was traced by district attorneys to a mega-yacht, a Picasso painting