The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) has just launched an online petition calling on the Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and all Members of Parliament to strengthen the rule of law by separating the role of the Public Prosecutor (PP) from that of the Attorney-General (AG) before the 15th General Election is called.
The petition on Change.org states…
- The Attorney General is appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) on the advise of the PM to be the legal advisor to the YDPA, the PM and the Cabinet, and is a political appointee.
- Currently the AG is also the PP and have the power, exercisable at his discretion, to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence.
- This a conflict of interest and has led to allegations of political interference through selective prosecution and immunity, non-pursuance of existing charges and withdrawal of charges for those aligned with the government.
- The role of the Public Prosecutor must be a separate person who is independently appointed by the YDPA through a transparent process free from the influence of the PM.
- The AG should remain to be appointed on the advice of the PM to be the government’s legal advisor and have no role in any judicial processes.
- The rule of law is part of our Rukun Negara and the principle of the separation of power between the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature must be upheld at all times.
We, the Rakyat, will reject any political parties that do not commit to or uphold the rule of law in this country. We do not want “double standard justice” where the rich and powerful can escape justice while the rest of us are expected to be law-abiding citizens or face punishment.
We urge all Malaysian citizens who cherish the rule of law to sign this petition and after two weeks, we will submit it to the Prime Minister together with our published report “Reforming the Office of Attorney General and The Judicial and Legal Services in Malaysia”.
The petition can be accessed at https://bit.ly/PisahkanPPdariAG
Statement issued by:
The Steering Committee of BERSIH