Malay rulers to meet over A-G appointment at Istana Negara tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malay rulers are scheduled to convene for a special discussion tomorrow regarding the appointment of the new AttorneyGeneral.

In a statement here yesterday, the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Tan Sri Syed Danial Syed Ahmad, said invitation letters had been sent out on June 1 to the Malay Rulers to deliberate on this matter at Istana Negara on June 5.

Syed Danial said for now, Putrajaya and Istana Negara have not arrived at any agreement regarding the termination of service of the current AttorneyGeneral (AG) and the candidate for his replacement.

“The Malay Rulers have been following this development and consider it their responsibility to help resolve the impasse,” he said.

The statement said that Article 145 (1) of the Federal Constitution stated: “The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint a person qualified to be a Federal Court judge to be the Attorney- General for the Federation.

It also referred to Article 145 (5) which states:” ...the AttorneyGeneral shall hold office during the pleasure of the Yang diPertuan Agong and may at any time resign his office and, unless he is a member of the Cabinet, shall receive such remuneration as the the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may determine”.

Prior to this, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had announced that AttorneyGeneral Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali would go on leave and was to be replaced by the Solicitor- General, with immediate effect.

Dr Mahathir said Mohamed Apandi was granted leave following several complaints about him although no official report had been lodged over the allegations levelled against him.