“It will ensure that prosecution decisions can be made without any fear or favour and protected from political interference.”
The position of PP should be made answerable to Parliament and not to the Executive arm of the Government, added TI-M President Akhbar Satar in a statement. “Also, the AG as PP is a public servant.”
“Any decisions made by him should not only be independent, transparent, impartial and fair but also must be seen to be so.
The AG’s role should be apolitical and no one should be able to doubt his decision in the interest of nation and that should be paramount, stressed Akhbar. “There should never be an accumulation of power by a single person or body of government.”
“From time immemorial, this has always been the greatest threat to liberty and the life of a nation.”
Since the PP is also the AG, greater concern on his independence and integrity was demanded by the public to ensure that criminal justice was enforced fairly and impartially, said Akhbar. “Based on the current situation, the candidate for the post of AG does not require the confidence of the judiciary or the public as to his capabilities and integrity.”
The current justice system merely requires the candidate for the AG to gain confidence from his appointer, who is the Prime Minister, pointed out the TI-M President. “This has made it easier for unchecked and inappropriate decisions to be made in relation to cases involving high profile individuals.”
This erosion of the AG’s independence has led to weaker accountability by the prosecution system for his decisions, warned Akhbar. “In the United Kingdom, generally speaking, the AG does not interfere in the day to day functions of the Crown Prosecution Services, an independent branch of the government.”
In the Malaysian situation it was necessary, therefore, for the AG not only to act independently but be seen to be acting independently in his decisions on whether to prosecute or not especially when high profile cases are involved, reiterated Akhbar.
TI-M was commenting on many questions being asked by various quarters on the AG’s decision not to proceed with three investigation papers submitted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International cases. “The AG needs to come clean and be transparent to explain the justification and the basis for not proceeding with recommendations of the MACC and for instructing it to close the files.”
Even though the AG has discretionary power, said TI-M, the exercise of this discretion should be in accordance with law. “His duty is to uphold the rule of law.”
“He should uphold the principle that everyone is equal before the law.”
The AG’s discretion should therefore be exercised for the public good and to prosecute and punish those who break the law, argued Akhbar. “Any such exercise to the contrary would be considered an abuse of discretionary power and deemed unconstitutional.”