Something is very wrong with the constitutional check-and-balance system when the Attorney-General can hold the country to hostage refusing to resign when there is a change of government and when he enjoys zero public confidence.
This is why New Malaysia is entering the fourth week without one of the most important officials – the Attorney-General – especially at a time when there must be far-reaching structural and institutional reforms in the country to reset nation-building policies and directions.
The Amanah MP for Sepang, Hanipa Maidin, is right 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.
Whether Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali is liable to criminal prosecution for misusing his discretionary powers as Attorney-General is however a very different question from 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 apart from the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Attorney-General himself had been given a thumping vote of no confidence by the electorate.
The recent revelation by the new Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Mohd Shukri Abdull that the MACC and the United States’ Department of Justice’ (DOJ) investigations into the 1MDB scandal are “almost similar” has restored the relevance, legitimacy and soundness of the US DOJ litigation on the 1MDB international money-laundering scam and further undermined Apandi Ali’s position and credibility.
Apandi had cleared former premier Najib of any wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation in Najib’s personal accounts.
He should have read the ten “killer paragraphs” in the US DOJ’s 1MDB kleptocratic suit to forfeit 1MDB-linked assets, i.e. Paragraph 339 to 348 under the section “$681 MILLION WAS TRANSFERRED FROM THE TANORE ACCOUNT TO AN ACCOUNT BELONGING TO MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” on the crime of money-laundering, which linked Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” to 1MDB money-laundering, debunking the claim that they were donations from Saudi Arab royalty and that US$620 million had been returned to Saudi Arabian donor.
(Media Statement in Iskandar Puteri on Friday, June 1, 2018)
#1 by Bigjoe on Friday, 1 June 2018 - 11:14 pm
Apandi Ali can eventually be fired even if its going to be cathartic to do so.
What is really unfathomable is that after UMNO has suffered a defeat, every indication is that, as a whole, the party feels no need to turnaround a trend that has been happening for decades. It appears THEY are still in denial about their real responsibility and that all they need to do is “make improvement”.
UMNO is not going to change and come next GE, they will shout otherwise – they have learned their lesson and different.
#2 by FreeAsian on Saturday, 2 June 2018 - 1:12 am
Perhaps this Apandi fella has been told by Najib’s camp to stay as long as possible, to frustrate any attempts to charge MO1. By not charging MO1 in the first place, Apandi has already shown his cards as being one unscrupulous fella.