FORMER prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the government’s decision not to reveal the details of the settlement with former attorney-general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali over the dismissal from his post.
On Wednesday (Feb 15) Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said in the written parliamentary reply that the matter has been put under the Official Secrets Act 1972, in accordance with the agreement that the terms of the settlement be kept secret.
Azalina was responding to Ipoh Barat MP M. Kula Segaran who asked for the amount of compensation paid to Apandi in the settlement.
“I am mystified by [Azalina’s decision] to make a secret of the settlement of Apandi’s demand for compensation for his dismissal,” Mahathir said in a series of tweets.
“Apandi, the former AG under Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s government, made his demand publicly. He even named the amount of RM2.23 mil.
“Yet the compensation the government made is a secret. Why? I have reason to find out why because I do not think he deserves to be compensated at all.”
During Mahathir’s stint as prime minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan administration, he terminated Apandi’s service as the AG in June 2018 amid the 1MDB probe.
On Oct 13, 2020, Apandi filed a suit against Mahathir and the government over his alleged unlawful termination as AG.
On April 13, 2022, the Kuala Lumpur High Court quashed the suit after the government agreed to settle the case without any admission of liability. – Feb 17, 2023
Main pic credit: Reuters
