Najib Razak, 69, is Malaysia’s first former prime minister to go to prison -- a mighty fall for a veteran British-educated politician whose father and uncle were the country’s second and third prime ministers, respectively.
The enormous 1MDB financial scandal tied directly to him was not just a personal blow but also shook — temporarily at least -- the stranglehold his party, the United Malays National Organization, had over Malaysian politics. UMNO had traditionally been assured the support of the country’s ethnic Malay majority and had headed the National Front coalition government since the country became independent of Britain in 1957.
