Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who leads the Democratic Action Party (DAP), said on Sep 29 that his resignation will take effect only when jailed former prime minister Najib Razak begins serving the rest of his sentence at home. Loke offered to quit after the king-chaired pardons board granted Najib, 73, a conditional pardon allowing house arrest if he pays a RM50 million (US$12.2 million) fine; Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim asked him to stay on for now. The row exposes strains in Anwar's governing coalition over the legacy of the 1MDB state-fund scandal (a multibillion-dollar graft case tied to Najib's era), with some allies urging Loke to stay and critics dismissing his pledge as empty theatre.