NO DEAL FOR APANDI: IF AG IS REFUSING TO RESIGN UNTIL HE IS ASSURED HE WON’T BE PROSECUTED FOR 1MDB ABUSE OF POWER, IT WON’T WORK – KIT SIANG

I said two days ago that Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali must be prepared to face the sack if he continues to stall from resigning honourably and with dignity as Attorney-General.

Is Apandi Ali going to create dubious history by denying Malaysia with an Attorney-General for more than a moth in a most crucial period in the nation’s history?

Today marks the full three weeks since the watershed day on May 9 when Malaysians surprised the world that they are capable of national self-correction and self-renewal by effecting a peaceful and democratic transition of power, placing Malaysia firmly on the path of a normal democracy.

It was not only a vote for no confidence for the Prime Minister and the UMNO/BN government, but more specifically, against the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali because of the AG’s central and extraordinary role in one of the primary issues of the 14th General Election – the 1MDB interntional money-laundering scandal resulting in Malaysia being stained worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

I fully agree with the Amanah MP for Sepang, Hanipa Maidin, that the power accorded to the attorney-general to determine not to initiate criminal proceedings cannot protect the latter if he is found to have abused that discretion in order to protect criminals.

Hanipa Maidin is only stating a truism when he said that while the discretion to decide on criminal charges was accorded to attorney-generals in the constitution, there was no such thing as “absolute discretion”, especially if discretion was misused.

However, the question whether Apandi Ali is liable to criminal prosecution for misusing his discretionary powers as Attorney-General should not under any circumstances or in any way be linked with the issue of his resignation as Attorney-General when there is a change of Government in a general election, especially when it is clear that the Attorney-General has been given a thumping vote of no confidence by the electorate and that he enjoys zero confidence by the new government.

Any other interpreation or action by exploiting any constitutional loophole or nicety to create a constitutional stalemate would tantamout to holding the new govenrment and the national electorate to hostage to nullify the verdict of the national electorate, making nonsense of the concept of constitutional government in a parliamentary democracy.

– https://blog.limkitsiang.com