Govt should not doubt its own AG, says Zaid

PETALING JAYA: The government should not have doubt in the competency and judgment of its own Attorney General, says former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

This is following the statement by Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that he had the prerogative of keeping the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) on the list of terrorist organisations.

Zaid questioned on Twitter the kind of ministers who doubted the Attorney General.

“What kind of ministers do we have?

“You don’t give the benefit of the doubt to your AG; only to an accused person. To your AG, there cannot be any doubt as to his competency and judgment. If you do, then you have to replace him, ” he said.

On Saturday, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Hanipa Maidin said critics should give the Attorney General’s Chambers the benefit of the doubt.

He said while there were parties that disagreed with Thomas’ decision and reasons behind it, the Attorney General’s pronouncement should be respected as he is a man of integrity.

“It is fair not to accept any reasons given by the AG. But at the end of the day, it is not the reasons which matter. What matters is the integrity of such an office – the AG’s Chambers.

“When the holder of such an office has impeccable integrity, in my view, we have to give the benefit of the doubt to any of his decisions. Therein lies the rule of law, ” said Hanipa in a statement.

Hanipa said Thomas had exercised his discretion under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution, and even when he was not required by law to give any reasons for his decision, he commended him for doing so anyway.

“Giving reasons is part of a good decision-making process in administrative law and it is much better as people are expecting to know how he arrived at his decision, ” he said, adding that it was unfortunate that Thomas’ reasoning did not go down well with some quarters, who instead criticised him harshly.