Anwar tells AG to seek audience with king over Najib’s house arrest
The prime minister says the Yang d-Pertuan Agong made his decision in granting the former prime minister a conditional pardon, and this must be respected.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he wants to make it clear the powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong are not being questioned. (Bernama pic)
SHAH ALAM: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has urged the attorney-general (AG) to promptly seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, to apologise and explain the reasons for proposing a deferment of Najib Razak’s house arrest.
Anwar said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, had made his decision in granting the former prime minister a conditional pardon, and this must be respected.
“I have asked the AG (Dusuki Mokhtar) to promptly apologise and seek an audience with His Majesty and explain that the (king’s) decision was accepted in the SRC case, but complications have arisen because it involves the second case, namely the 1MDB case.
“The matter needs to be explained, and we may need a few days to reach a decision after referring it to the judiciary.
“I will leave it to the AG to provide the details of the case, as this does not fall within my jurisdiction,” he told reporters after an event at the Selangor International Trade Centre (SITC) here today.
Anwar also said he wanted to make it clear that the powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong are not being questioned.
He said Dusuki has already requested an audience with the king to discuss the matter.
“(Seek an audience) as soon as possible. I have been informed about it, but I am not sure when exactly,” he said.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers said earlier today its request to defer the implementation of Najib’s house arrest was not an attempt to dispute the conditional pardon granted to the former prime minister.
Instead, it said, the issue in question was the legal effect of the Order of Discharge issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday following the payment of Najib’s RM50 million fine.
It was responding to Najib’s legal team, Shafee & Co, which accused the AG of acting beyond his authority, disobeying royal decrees, and unlawfully continuing Najib’s detention.
Istana Negara said today the king emphasised that the conditional pardon order is clear, explicit and unambiguous, and is not related to any other cases involving Najib.
The palace also said there should be no confusion over the interpretation of the conditional pardon order or prolonged delays in implementing the decision.