Nomination of AG does not contradict Harapan pledges, say lawyers

Two lawyers have argued that the Pakatan Harapan administration's decision to nominate a non-lawmaker for the post of attorney-general does not contradict the coalition's election pledge.

The two were referring to a Malaysiakini report which pointed to Item 15 of Harapan's manifesto as stating that the attorney-general shall be appointed from among qualified MPs.

Former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan pointed out that doing this would require constitutional amendments.

"Until then, the present position applies," lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan tweeted yesterday.

At present, Article 145(1) of the Federal Constitution states that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has to appoint a person who is qualified to be a Federal Court judge as the attorney-general, on the advice of the prime minister.

At this point, it is uncertain who among the Harapan's MPs is qualified to be a Federal Court judge.

Another lawyer, Teo Nie Ching (photo), said part of Harapan's promise was also to decouple the role of public prosecutor from the attorney-general.

This too, said Teo, would require constitutional amendments.

"However, in order to do so, we need to amend the Federal Constitution. Harapan does not have the two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat to do this.

"Even if we manage to persuade the opposition MPs to support this, it will take time to materialise the amendment.

"However, we urgently need a new AG to restore confidence in our judiciary system. We need a new AG now," said Teo, who is also the Kulai MP.

Nominating a Harapan MP as the new attorney-general, Teo argued, would also lead to further questioning of the attorney-general's impartiality.

"If we can't trust (the current attorney-general) Mohamed Apandi Ali to press charges against (former prime minister) Najib Abdul Razak, can the public trust a Harapan MP to do the same to a Harapan minister?" she asked.

In view of this, Item 15 of the Harapan manifesto should be read together with the pledges to decouple the public prosecutor's role, Teo added. - Mkini