An official from Malaysia’s federal protocol registry announced yesterday that former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor’s respective honorific titles of Datuk Seri and Datin Seri have been stripped by one state, with immediate effect.
According to Malaysian news agency Bernama, Rosmah’s home state of Negeri Sembilan revoked her Darjah Seri Paduka Tuanku Ja’afar Yang Amat Terpuji (SPTJ) title and her husband’s Darjah Seri Utama Negri Sembilan (SPNS) title, yesterday.
It is unclear if the other states that have awarded Najib and Rosmah honorific titles will follow Negeri Sembilan’s lead.
Najib and Rosmah are under intense scrutiny in Malaysia, after Najib’s sound defeat at the Malaysian polls by the opposition coalition led by his former mentor opened the floodgates for investigators to probe his role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund scandal.
Najib presently faces a whopping three dozen charges of money laundering, abuse and criminal breach of trust, while Rosmah was arrested and is being investigated on what role she played in the 1MDB scandal that shook the nation.