SUPREME Council member Nur Jazlan Mohamed had on Friday accused members of a parliamentary select committee of grandstanding over plans to have the sitting attorney general and his predecessor explain Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s conditional discharge.
Nur Jazlan also accused the committee of exceeding its authority by asking the AGs to justify their exercise of their discretion to decide prosecutions based on powers granted under the Federal Constitution.
Government lawmakers on the committee appeared to be aping the Opposition in turning Zahid’s discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) into a controversy in order to gain political support, he said.
Nur Jazlan said the committee was doing so even after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim deferred to the AG as the sole arbiter of prosecutorial decisions in the country.
“Are you all slow of understanding or unable to read? The AGC (Attorney General’s Chambers) has already issued an explanation and given 11 reasons for why it asked the court to release Zahid,” he said in a statement.
“Just accept this and let the MACC investigate to see if there is new evidence related to Zahid. Be patient.”
The Umno leader also said there was no reason to call the AGs to justify their decisions unless there was doubt over the integrity of the country’s justice system.
Nur Jazlan also insinuated that some critics of the decision appeared to have no problems with a DNAA when granted to those aligned with them.
Last week, the prosecutors in Zahid’s case applied for the DNAA, ostensibly to review new information obtained.
The Opposition Perikatan Nasional coalition criticised the government over Zahid’s DNAA, alleging interference in the prosecution and causing uproar in Parliament after its lawmakers’ attempt to discuss the matter was rejected.
On Thursday, the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Election and Institutional Reform clarified that it will only invite the sitting and former AG to explain Zahid’s case, after it was previously reported as planning to summon Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh and his predecessor, Idrus Harun.
