“Malaysian Attorneys-General assume a dual role: they are simultaneously the legal adviser to the Government and the Public Prosecutor.”
“As Public Prosecutor, the A-G is a public institution empowered by the Constitution with all the discretionary powers in the world to charge or not to charge anyone for any offence or crime.”
The explanation above on the role of the Attorney General was provided by former de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim in his blog some years back.
Hannah Yeoh
Predictably, all that Mama Dapster can muster is to perli and sindir our current AG Apandi Ali.
Hannah Yeoh’s ugly Facebook comment (above) and the mean thread by her FB friends is reflective of the Dapster’s beastly nature.
Dr Mahathir
Tun blogged an entry titled ‘Quo vadis Malaysia‘ in Che Det today.
He wrote:
“In Malaysia the Attorney General decides if a law has been broken or not. That decision is in fact a judgement. The A.G. is both a judge and a prosecutor. This in itself is an injustice.”
BELOW: Quo vadis is a Latin expression meaning “Where are you going?”
Well, it depends on who’s driving the chariot, and we sure ain’t gonna hand over the reins to the DAP
Salleh Said Keruak
Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak responded to Tun, saying:
“This statement [“AG is both a judge and a prosecutor”] is most misleading. Dr Mahathir makes it sound like the Attorney General has done something wrong or has overstepped his boundary whereas what he did was exactly what his job demands that he does.”
Salleh added,
“They should not try to make it appear like this [AG’s decision] is something out of the ordinary when this is precisely how things are done and have been done since the beginning. And this is also precisely how things were done during Dr Mahathir’s watch as Prime Minister as well — no more and no less.”
Zaid Ibrahim
A comprehensive write-up on the functions of the AG was done by Zaid Ibrahim who has a keen interest in the AG’s office.
In his article titled ‘Reforming the A-G’s office’‘ on 2 Nov 2011, Zaid lists some of the cases handled by the previous AG Gani Patail during Tun Mahathir and Tun Dol’s time.
“The list of cases and complaints is too long for me to recite here but everyone knows that no one has been brought to book for the MAS scandal that caused losses of billions of ringgit. Everyone knows that those responsible for the death of Teoh Beng Hock , and Sharbani have not been held accountable. Everyone remembers the “no further action” against those implicated in the judge-fixing (i.e., the Lingam Videotape) scandal.
“There are many other cases involving high-profile personalities who were acquitted or had their charges dropped without the public being given satisfactory explanation of why those cases were not successful.”
“This happened in the 2007 prosecution of Tan Sri Eric Chia for criminal breach of trust. It happened again in the 2009 prosecution of former Land and Cooperative Development Minister Tan Sri Kasitah Gaddam for corruption and cheating. It happened again this year in the high-profile case against Constable V. Navindran, who was charged with causing grievous hurt to A. Kugan who died in the Taipan police lock-up two years ago.”
Speaking of his short-lived tenure as the de facto Law Minister, Zaid said, interestingly enough:
“I tried to convince former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that the A-G’s post should be made a political position and that the incumbent must be made a Cabinet member. The Attorney General, in my view, must be prepared to stand in Parliament and be held fully accountable.”
According to Zaid, the AG had actually been a member of the Cabinet in the past:
“The fact is that, in the old days when the A-G was a member of the Cabinet, there was a lot more more confidence by members of the public in the AG office. – The Solicitor-General (S-G) was effectively the Public Prosecutor and the S-G’s team pursued prosecutions without interference from political bosses while the A-G remained the nominal Prosecutor and also chief legal adviser to the Government.”
Although the opposition appears presently to clamour for reforms as well as claiming to very much want to “improve our justice system”, Zaid complains that neither they (nor the PM) had offered any concrete suggestions to make our justice system better.
From the responses today of formal oppositionists like Hannah Yeoh, and opposition de jure like Tun, we can see that they’re not proposing constructive ideas for ‘reform’.
Instead they’re merely venting due to their profound anger and disagreement with the AG’s decision yesterday.
Helen Ang 
“Moderation makes up half of one’s sustenance and good manners makes up half of your religion. O doers of good deeds! Adopt sincerity, otherwise all is wasted effort.”
– Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, celebrated saint of Persia & Iraq (11th cent.)
my taka is that d macc feels there is ‘prima facie’ case whereas d ag using his ‘convoluted logic’ feels that there is not enough evidence.
so let us wait 4 d response from d macc review panel that shld b allowed 2 convene wth fear or favor.
no matter what, I still feel that a RCI is d best instrument 2 resolve both the mess in 1MDB n SRC.
Did DS Najib admit to this when MACC took his statement? MACC had confirmed with the receiving bank and BNM on those transactions before they met DS Najib. Didn’t Najib should ask his home branch who was the generous guy giving him such huge RM?. Najib did not ask because he knew the source. So, how could AG said that Najib did not know that the RM42 milions came from SRC International?.
Because he wants the TH directorship lah. Orang cari makan ma… Ada sesapa kat sini boleh offer lagi best ke? Kalau boleh bagi tahu dia. Anything and everything can still be change. Fight fire with bigger fire. Fight money with bigger money!
Government people are placed in the board of directors of government-linked entities to oversea and look after the interests of the government. There’s nothing unusual in appointing well-known personalities to such positions of trust
Just like Fu Ah Kiow is put in the board of directors (he’s the chairman of the board) of the J-Star Media Group to protect the interests of the MCA. Only thing is he’s doing a lousy job.
That is why you must appoint the right people and the people appointed to GLCs are no better.
The Malays now are in delima. Come election they are going to vote PAS or abstain. We are fed up of UMNO but that does not mean we going to support the Opposition . Another alternative that we have is to register a new Malay party with TM as patron and all UMNO veterans
Idrus,
Actually it is quite simple. If Malays do not vote for BN or UMNO or PAS, they are actually handing their political power to DAP opposition.
For those Malays who feel that political power would remain in Malay hands even if UMNO is toppled, do wake up. Remember this DAP contested in 14 state seats in Johor in PRU13. it won 13. the only seat it lost was represented by an Indian DAP while BN was represented by Chinese guy.
Why on earth DAP lost? It is very clear that even DAP members rejected non Chinese. So ask again. Be honest. Would you want to vote for DAP or its coalition that clearly rejects non Chinese?