YOURSAY | ‘Are there no righteous and brave men left in our country?’

AG who prosecutes sitting PM may get fired, says ex-judge

Restless: If the attorney-general can’t act in the interest of the public, and won’t prosecute a sitting PM, then the whole exercise of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's investigation and AG’s prosecutorial role are devoid of form and substance.

It confirms the intention from the beginning was never to nail the criminal and punish him accordingly.

It’s just a drama to account to the public in a grossly irresponsible manner that investigation has been done and concluded.

It's an insult to every rakyat’s existence in the shoddy manner each stage of investigation was carried out with the notion that power is at their disposal to be abused.

Anonymous 2305141436452229: My question is if the Agong has the authority to appoint the AG, why can't he exercise his powers to ignore the advice of the PM?

I had hoped that in His Majesty's wisdom he can see through the path Najib is taking our country to and choose someone who is truly independent, or form a panel to give an independent advice on another suitable candidate.

Hasn't there been precedent where the sultans in their own wisdom and judgement chose to ignore advice or act on their own behest (for example, the Perak MB crisis, the rejection of Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as Selangor MB?)

Unafraid: The critical consideration now is what can be done within the boundaries of our constitution and the law? This is where the constitutional experts need to advise us.

Surely, we cannot allow alleged crooks to ride roughshod over us and get away with the loot. Is the law in Malaysia so deficient that crooks and murderers can get away scot-free just because they are powerful?

Are there no righteous and brave men left in our country who will rise up collectively to defend the integrity of our beloved nation?

If not, it's a sad day for Malaysia. Black is now grey, and grey is white.

Vijay47: I would hardly deign to refer to former appellate court judge Mohd Noor Abdullah as a constitutional expert.

Small in stature inter alia, he is the judge who from the bench once voiced his regret that he could not give full recognition of the supremacy of syariah over civil law.

Further, that he shares membership in the review panel with former police chief Musa Hassan gives a good insight into what can be expected should the MACC appeal.

In true Salleh Said Keruak fashion, Mohd Noor takes a sly stab at Dr Mahathir Mohamad for creating the kind of dubious values we now see in the attorney-general; in other words, the present AG is merely continuing a legal tradition established since Mahathir's days and no doubt honed by Abdul Gani Patail.

But what is sad is that a former judge seems unaware that it would be morally if not legally repulsive for the AG to enjoy absolute powers; to make it worse, Mohd Noor appears to gladly accept the present state of affairs, there is no suggestion that a change in necessary.

But indeed, a change in government is seriously necessary.

Jesse: The AG must exercise his discretion according to law. He cannot behave like a little Napolean. That is an unwritten fundamental part of the law.

He should provide a full explanation for his decision because this is an issue of public interest as the matter involves alleged grand theft of large sums of public money as well as political integrity at the highest level.

To date, no real explanation has been given. Only threats, intimidation, arrests, etc. The AG cannot, and must not, be part of this anti-democratic exercise.

Swipenter: The slippery road to a failed state has its beginnings from the Mahathir’s administration.

It is clear that the present government is unable to investigate itself because all organs, especially the judiciary (Lingamgate), police (selective prosecution) and MACC (previously Anti-Corruption Agency) are compromised by Dr Mahathir Mohamad to consolidate his political power.

Freedom of press is perpetually threatened. The government is getting more oppressive and authoritarian, instead of being more open and transparent.

We have Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) and National Security Council (NSC) Act, after the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The Umno government is perpetually pitting one race against another. There is no longer any effective check and balance mechanism with the AG saying his decision to charge or not to charge cannot be challenged.

Simple Malaysian: We are now being told subtlety that we have a system that is very wrong. Perhaps there is an underlying message to vote for change, or is it too late?

The decision is in the hands of the rakyat in the next election. Any little fence-sitting, wanting to remain with the status quo will only result in the collapse of our beloved nation.

There is a need to strongly reject the present administration and appoint an interim coalition of the present opposition until Malaysia can reinvent itself.

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