BEAUFORT MP Azizah Mohd Dun has taken to task a fellow parliamentarian’s move to question Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin over the discharge not amounting to the acquittal of Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz of money-laundering charges involving US$248 mil (RM1.08 bil) linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds.
Under the deal, Riza, who is also the stepson of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, will only return US$107.3 mil (RM465.3 mil). Najib is also facing trial over 1MDB charges.
Selayang MP William Leong yesterday pressed Muhyiddin, who is also Pagoh MP, to answer whether he approved of the plea bargain deal by way of a public statement today (May 18).
But Azizah said the decision to keep the sitting of May 18 to one day was made long before Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun made his decision not to prosecute Riza.
“The limitation of the sitting to one day is to comply with the rule of law and to help curtail the risks of spreading Covid-19,” she said.
“Our government will always be accountable to the people of Malaysia. There is a sitting scheduled for July, there is no impediment to Parliament discussing matters of national interest. It is merely two months away,” she said.
Below is Azizah’s statement in full:
RESPONSE TO YB WILLIAM LEONG MP SELAYANG
YB William Leong has posted questions to the Prime Minister on this news website. He claims that ‘parliament is not the building’. He claims that as a responsible parliamentarian he is entitled to pose questions in an open media forum and that a responsible Prime Minister would answer the questions he poses. This is nothing more than political grandstanding.
I do not think the YAB Prime Minister needs to respond to misplaced and inaccurately posed questions. As a responsible parliamentarian and a lawyer, I feel I should correct YB William Leong, lest he be accused of unparliamentary conduct.
Let me first say this, William Leong should know better. As a long standing parliamentarian he should be aware that the Minister’s question time is the proper place for government ministers to answer questions posed to them about their respective portfolios. And as always there is a proper time and place and person to whom questions should be rightly addressed.
This brings me to the question itself. It asks if the Prime Minister approves of the plea bargain arrangement involving Riza Aziz. Again, let us be clear. As a long standing parliamentarian and and even longer standing member of the bar, YB William Leong should really know better than to ask this of the Prime Minister. I am sure YB William Leong is familiar with Article 145 of our Federal Constituion. It provides for the absolute, unfettered discretion of the Attorney General to decide whether to institute or withdraw criminal charges. It does not require the approval or otherwise of the Prime MInister and furthermore, the Attorney General is neither a member of parliament nor a member of the cabinet. In short, the question that YB William Leong poses confuses a decision by the Attorney General with the approval of the Prime Minister. Today, the Honorable Attorney General has issued a press statement explaining himself.
Perhaps YB William Leong should be reminded that the reason for this distinction is to provide for some measure of independence. His memory cannot be so short as to forget that when the Attorney General’s Chambers declined to continue prosecuting YB Lim Guan Eng, the explanation was not provided by the then Prime Minister, it was provided by the Deputy Public Prosecutor to whom the decision was delegated (the then AG having recused himself from that the decision). Incidentally, I did not recall YB William Leong demanding an explanation of the then Prime Minister’s approval in the open press.
The decision whether to prosecute someone or not, in my understanding as a lawyer, can sometimes be quite difficult. It requires weighing many considerations including the value of judicial time, costs, the likelihood of success, the need to make the victim whole and to serve the ideals of justice. Political expediency is not one such consideration. It is not for the Prime Minister to approve or disapprove of any decision the Attorney General makes. Our Attorney General was a distinguished and highly independent member of our Federal Court. His judicial record speaks for itself. His appointment to the bench and more recently to the position of Attorney General was widely commended. The Prime Minister’s open approval or disapproval of any such decisions would be wrong and would almost certainly invite the complaint that the Prime Minister is indirectly interfering with the independence of our government institutions. Again, this should not be lost on YB William Leong, after all, he has in the past criticised former prime ministers for this very sin.
Doubtless some will suggest that his question would have been tabled but for the limited sitting on May 18th. However, the Standing Orders of Parliament are clear on the order of business. These Standing Orders were relied on and upheld by the Pakatan Harapan government when they were in power. They know full well the order of business having enforced it on the then opposition. The decision to keep the sitting of 18 May to one day was made long before the Attorney General made his decision not to prosecute Riza Aziz. The limitation of the sitting to one day is to comply with the rule of law and to help curtail the risks of spreading Covid 19. No one can suggest that the pandemic and its dangers are manufactured. The entire country is taking steps to limit large gatherings. A Parliamentary sitting is not just limited to 222 parliamentarians appearing in the building, but an entire infrastructure of people and support staff that need to be involved. Limiting the sitting to one day to do the bare minimum is the responsible thing to do. Our government will always be accountable to the people of Malaysia. There is a sitting scheduled for July, there is no impediment to parliament discussing matters of national interest. It is merely two months away.
All this is to say YB William Leong should know better and his questions is nothing more than a political stunt. The Prime Minister should not dignify it with a response.
Azizah Mohd Dun
MP for Beufort, Sabah
