KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 18 -- MCA has expressed its gratitude to His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, for granting a conditional royal pardon to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In a statement today, MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said that honouring the Pardons Board's decision does not negate the courts' earlier conviction of Najib, just as respecting judicial verdicts does not diminish the King's constitutional prerogative to grant clemency.

Both avenues, he noted, represent fundamental components of Malaysia's constitutional architecture.

"MCA expresses our utmost gratitude for the royal assent granted by His Majesty, Sultan Ibrahim, regarding the conditional pardon of Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib...