‘Gani should resign over Ling’s acquittal’

Karpal Singh claims A-G Abdul Gani Patail “no longer has the moral authority to hold on to his post”.

GEORGE TOWN: Senior parliamentarian and lawyer Karpal Singh wants Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail to quit his post over his failure to successfully prosecute high profile cases.

Karpal was referring to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court last week acquitted MCA president and former Transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik of cheating the government in relation to the PKFZ land deal.

Karpal wants Gani to relinquish his position but not before explaining his failure to execute an efficient prosecution case in such a high profile case.

“Losses of PKFZ were colossal. Gani has the worst record among the country’s AGs.

“He no longer has the moral authority to hold on to his post. He should resign but before that he should his explain on why the prosecution was so inept.

“He has yet again proved his inability to carry out a successful prosecution in a high profile case,”  Karpal told newsmen during his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency visit here today.

Karpal is also curious to know why no statements were recorded from Dr Mahathir Mohamed, the Prime Minister who headed the cabinet and government at the time of scandal.

The only recorded statement from the ex-premier was during the course of the trial, which Karpal described as “as very odd since Dr Mahathir was the most vital and material witness of the case.”

He asked whether the exclusion of Dr Mahathir from the investigation proper was deliberately done or part of Gani’s negligence.

He also called on the authorities to continue their investigations on the PKFZ scandal to nab the culprits despite Ling’s acquittal.

“Ling’s acquittal should not be end of the chapter,” said Karpal.

Important constitutional issue

Meanwhile on the Allah issue, the DAP national chairman called on the Federal Court to sit full bench to hear and decide on the Herald Tribune’s imminent appeal to overturn the recent Court of Appeal (COA) decision barring the publication from using the word.

He also called on the Federal Court to automatically allow impending leave application by The Herald to proceed with its appeal.

A 15-man Federal Court full bench comprises 11 Judges – two Borneo and Malaya chief judges, COA president and Federal Court Chief Justice.

Karpal pointed out that top Apex courts in countries like India and USA had sat full bench constantly to hear and make decisions on cases of constitutional importance.

He said that the Allah issue was currently an important constitutional matter and should be resolved sooner than later especially in the wake of action by authorities to seize 2,000 copies of The Herald at Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Friday.

“It’s important for a full bench Federal Court to decide and resolve the issue once for all,” he insisted.