Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has deferred a ruling on jailed former prime minister Najib Razak’s bid for a royal pardon, the government said in a statement on Friday.

Najib’s pardon bid will be deliberated at a future meeting of the Pardons Board, which is chaired by the King, the Prime Minister’s Department said in a statement. The king consented to release 65 prisoners on Friday, the statement said.

Najib, 73, has been in jail since 2022 after being found guilty of corruption related to the 1MDB scandal. He is serving a six-year jail term, which was halved from an original sentence of 12 years following an earlier partial pardon by then King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah.

Najib remains popular within the United Malays National Organisation — the country’s former ruling party. Anticipation over his petition for a pardon loomed over its annual meeting, which is ongoing through Saturday. His wife Rosmah Mansor was present at the gathering.

UMNO chief Zahid Hamidi said the party was “saddened” by the postponement but remained hopeful for a positive outcome.

Najib’s downfall came after he was accused of siphoning off billions of dollars raised by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, with the help of some bankers including from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The taint of corruption led to UMNO losing power in 2018 for the first time since the country’s independence.

The former premier was also convicted for another 1MDB-related corruption case last December and sentenced to another 15 years in prison and an 11.4 billion ringgit ($2.8 billion) fine. Najib is asking the Court of Appeal to overturn that ruling.

The Federal Territories Pardons Board is chaired by the king and includes Attorney-General of Malaysia Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, the Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh and three other members appointed by the king.