.jpg)
Tun M Was Right Why Must the Government Keep Terms of Settlement with Former AG, Apandi a Secret.
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright May 2022
Tun M did not hide his displeasure when a suit filed on October 13, 2020, by former Attorney General (AG) Mohamed Apandi Ali against himself as the then PM and the government was resolved out of court, on 13 April 2022.
He was more displeased when the government was reluctant to make public the terms of the settlement with Apandi.
According to the Malay Mail, Tun wrote in a Facebook post, “I do not understand why the terms of the settlement should be kept secret from me and the people. The people have a right to know. Especially if it involved compensation”.
Tun M was right to be annoyed. So are we. It is a lack of transparency like this case that had often angered the public to no end.
In fact, it had become quite a common practice for the government to hide from public scrutiny anything sensitive by classifying it as “Official Secret” under The Official Secrets Act (OSA).
We are not sure whether this settlement was under the OSA. If it was not, then how much a former AG was paid to settle the case without going to trial is of public interest because the money was from the national coffer.
Tun M complained that as a key witness in the case, he was not even informed of the terms of the settlement. So, he wrote to the AG, saying he did not agree with the way the settlement was made.
He argued that when he testified to the current AG (Idrus Harun) for the preparation of Apandi’s suit against him, he was advised that the termination process was correct and in accordance with the procedures and Rule of Law.
Tun M claimed that “They informed me that the government and I had given the correct advice to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for Apandi to be terminated.”
However, on April 13, it was reported that the suit filed by Apandi against Dr Mahathir over his termination as AG was settled amicably in the Kuala Lumpur High Court. Apandi’s lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu announced that the terms of the settlement could not be revealed.
This raised a relevant question. Tun M asked why the need for compensation then if the case was settled in accordance with the law.
He asked, “Where is the principle of the Rule of Law? I am of the opinion that the solution of providing such large compensation for a person who fails to perform his responsibilities properly is very regrettable at any time. I plead not guilty and am prepared for Apandi’s claim to be tried in court,” he said.
We are with you, Tun. We suspect the amount paid must have been large to prompt the government to put it under wraps.
Also, there must have been “something” curious about the case, that the AG Chambers preferred not to share with the public.
However, the public still has every right to know why and how much was paid out to Apandi. More so Tun M himself who was the man responsible for terminating Apandi’s contract.
Come on, pray tell us the full story, we can handle it.
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
Register at headliner.newswav.com to become one of our content writers now!
Newswav is solely an aggregation platform and hosts the content. The views expressed and content above including media (pictures, videos, etc) were provided by the author. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
