AG to remain public prosecutor for now

The government's plan to separate the functions of the public prosecutor from the attorney-general will be shelved for now, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

Mahathir said the decision was made as the government would need to amend the Federal Constitution for this, which would in turn require a two-third majority in Parliament.

"A thorough study is being conducted on the recommendation to separate the function of public prosecutor from the attorney-general.

"This involves the constitution, and we have yet to reach the numbers to get a two-thirds majority in the Dewan (Rakyat) to pass this amendment.

"Because of this, the (plan) is postponed," he told a press conference after chairing the cabinet special committee on anti-corruption in Putrajaya today.

The prime minister also said that the government was studying ways to enhance the power of Judicial Appointments Commission to ensure its independence and prevent outside interference.

Reviewing policy on involvement of civil servants in politics

On the involvement of civil servants in politics, he said the government had yet to finalise its policy on the matter as there are "grey areas".

"We know that during the previous administration, many government servants were involved in politics including campaigning for and wearing shirts of political parties and sorts.

"This jeopardises the transparency of the country's administration as the officers are surely tied to these parties, and they will take actions that are biased in whatever decision they make.

"We have yet to determine if there are officers who can be allowed to be involved in politics. Of course, those who are appointed for certain ministers would be involved in politics as they are helping the (respective) ministers to connect with the people.

"But there were also others who were allowed since before, like Kemas (Community Development Department) officers. Because this has yet to be refined and determined, we did not make a decision (on this) today. We will review the involvement of civil servants in politics," he said.

Mahathir said the government might allow civil servants who are not involved in making serious decision to be involved in politics, but he added that there no final decision has been made on the matter.

The prime minister said that traditionally, teachers were allowed to participate in politics, but it was found that teachers no longer get involved in politics as much as business persons do.

"So now we have to look at other people and at what level should we cut them off.

"People who do not really make serious decisions might be allowed to be involved in politics. Even that, (we have) not reached final decision."

'Actions against Umno leaders not because they are from Umno'

During the conference, Mahathir was asked on claims that the current Pakatan Harapan administration was seen as focusing anti-corruption investigations only on Umno leaders but not those from other Barisan Nasional component parties.

To this, the premier said the government today is looking at thousands of cases from the time Najib Abdul Razak was prime minister.

"We cannot do 1,000 cases in a day. (So) we focus on big cases only and most of the big cases involve Umno.

"That is why we are taking action against these people. Not because they are from Umno but because they committed a crime," said Mahathir.

He also added that the administration had yet to receive cases of corruption from officers or members of the current government."But the cases we are seeing today are linked to the previous government." - Mkini