Did Mahathir Purposely Pardon Anwar Illegally?

Anwar’s only hope is to challenge the locus standi of anyone who brings this matter to court, basically a technical issue. If this matter is argued in court, Anwar can most probably lose the case because clearly Mahathir violated certain procedures. And Mahathir may have done this on purpose to nail Anwar if he ever gets out of line.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

A lawyer, Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, is taking Anwar Ibrahim to court to try to get his pardon declared illegal or “tak sah”. Anwar, on the other hand, is challenging Khairul’s locus standi to file this action. In Malaysia, there is no “class action suit” like in the US. So whether Khairul can or cannot take this “class action” would determine how this case proceeds.

The then prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had announced two days after Pakatan Harapan won GE14 that Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong had granted Anwar a full pardon. However, certain required procedures were bypassed, so this technically makes Anwar’s pardon questionable.

Why did Mahathir bypass certain procedures and violate the law in granting Anwar a pardon?

“The pardon came about just before a Cabinet was formed. This was in violation of Articles 42(4) and (5) of the supreme law of the nation,” said Khairul.

Furthermore, the board had not existed on 16 May 2018 to advise the Agong to pardon Anwar. Khairul said a board member, then Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali, had been on garden leave while the Federal Territories Minister had yet to be appointed. And Apandi had not assigned the Solicitor-General to represent him at the meeting.

Article 42(5) states that the federal territories board membership should consist of the AG, the Minister, and at least three others to advise the Agong.

Anwar had earlier told a press conference that the Agong had granted him a full pardon in his three trials – abuse of power, Sodomy 1 and Sodomy 2 – on the basis that there had been a “miscarriage of justice”.

Anwar’s only hope is to block this matter from going to court by using the “locus standi” argument

What Anwar basically means is the judges in all those trials (plus the Court of Appeal judges and the Federal Court judges) were all corrupt, as were the Attorney-General and the prosecutors. This makes one wonder whether Najib Tun Razak, Rosmah Mansor and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would ever get a fair trial.

Anwar said the pardon was also on the basis that there was a conspiracy to condemn him and assassinate his political character. “The pardon is complete and unconditional. The convictions are automatically erased,” he said.

In that case Anwar should not block Khairul’s action but should let the court hear this case so that it can be determined once and for all whether his pardon is legal or illegal. From a layman’s perspective, the pardon is illegal because various procedures and requirements were bypassed. In fact, there is a suspicion that Mahathir purposely did this so that, in future, the pardon can be reversed if required.

Anwar is alleging the entire judiciary is corrupt

Knowing Mahathir, he would have built in some “safety measures” into Anwar’s so-called “pardon” in the event he needs to send Anwar back to jail or disqualify him from becoming the prime minister. If Anwar’s pardon is declared illegal, then Anwar cannot become prime minister. In fact, he cannot even be a member of parliament and will have to resign his seat.

Anwar’s only hope is to challenge the locus standi of anyone who brings this matter to court, basically a technical issue. If this matter is argued in court, Anwar can most probably lose the case because clearly Mahathir violated certain procedures. And Mahathir may have done this on purpose to nail Anwar if he ever gets out of line.