Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim postponed consideration of a new clemency request from former premier Najib Razak over his conviction tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. The king, who chaired a pardons board meeting on Friday, pardoned 65 inmates but ordered that Najib’s request be considered at the next meeting. Najib has been jailed since 2022, after Malaysia’s top court upheld his corruption conviction. He co-founded 1MDB during his nine years in power, and more than $1 billion allegedly reached accounts linked to him. Najib denies the allegations and says he was made a scapegoat for the embezzlement of $4.5 billion that U.S. investigators say was taken in a complex international scheme. A 2024 decision halved his original 12-year sentence and reduced his fines, while his effort to secure house arrest was unsuccessful. He was sentenced late last year to an additional 15 years and fined $2.8 billion for abuse of power and money laundering over the scandal, a decision he has appealed. The clemency issue could deepen tensions within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-party government, as Najib remains influential in UMNO and its Barisan Nasional coalition.