Former law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz's claim that Malays do not want a non-Malay to be attorney-general is an "outrageous insult" to all Malays, said Lawyer for Liberty.

"While claiming to be Malay champion, Nazri and Umno are in fact slandering the Malays by portraying them as intolerant and racist," LFL executive director Latheefa Koya said in a statement today.

She added that it was a "cheap and dangerous" way to score political points in the Semenyih by-election.

On Saturday, Nazri said the attorney-general, chief justice, and finance minister should not be non-Muslim because they could not take their oath of office by swearing on the Quran.

He later defended this remark as a reflection of grassroots sentiments.

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Latheefa rubbished this notion, saying that the Federal Constitution does not set a race criteria for the attorney-general, neither is there an oath of office.

"Nazri seems blissfully unaware that under the constitution, there is no requirement of an oath of office for the AG. In other words, the AG does not take an oath of office, unlike MPs or ministers.

"As a qualified lawyer, it is astonishing that Nazri plays fast and loose with the constitution, which is the founding document of our nation," she said.