Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said they were still awaiting a response from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on the matter, Malaysiakini reported.

Saifuddin said the decision was made after the issue was raised at a Cabinet meeting yesterday.

He said that, as a minister, he has the authority to revoke a prohibition order.

“That is what I am exercising now. However, the process requires me to first obtain feedback from the attorney-general.

“Only then will I exercise the power to revoke the prohibition order on a particular material,” he was quoted as saying.

The three books in question are “Memoir Shamsiah Fakeh: Dari Awas ke Rejimen Ke-10”, written by the late Shamsiah Fakeh; “Komrad ASI (Rejimen 10): Dalam Denyut Nihilisme Sejarah”, written by Aziz Suriani; and “Mao Zedong: China dalam Dunia Abad ke-20”, a translation of a book written by Rebecca E Karl.

The government’s decision to ban the books by Shamsiah and Aziz drew criticism across the political divide, including from PKR’s Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung, Petaling Jaya MCA Youth chief Andy Teoh and DAP’s Bandar Utama assemblyman Jamaliah Jamaluddin, who is Shamsiah’s granddaughter.

Saifuddin went on to admit that the previous book-banning process forced him to “firefight”, as he had only learned about the bans after enforcement had taken place.

He said that under a new mechanism, reports from the Special Branch will no longer be enforced immediately, unlike in the past.

Instead, the minister will scrutinise the reports before approving the book for public circulation or ordering action to be taken otherwise.

“But before any action is taken, enforcement officers will meet with the publisher first. We want the publisher to be called in to provide their explanation and views,” he said.