PETALING JAYA: A new Attorney General (AG) will be appointed soon, says a highly-placed government source.
The source claimed that current AG Tan Sri Idrus Azizan Harun (pic) had expressed his intention not to serve out the rest of his contract, which ends in March next year, if he is to be replaced.
Three names have been presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his consideration before he advises the King who should be appointed as the next AG.
All three are judges, added the source.
"The trio comprises one judge from the Court of Appeal and two from the High Court. The names currently being mentioned are Datuk Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin, Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said and Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh," said the source on Thursday (Dec 15).
He added that the appointment will be made very soon as the Prime Minister needs to put his house in order before the new year so he can concentrate on other matters.
Idrus was reappointed as the AG for another year on March 6, with Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali saying that his reappointment was in line with Article 145(1) of the Federal Constitution.
Under Article 145(1), the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall, on the advice of the prime minister, appoint a person – who is qualified to be a Federal Court judge – to be the attorney general.
Among the trio shortlisted for the post is Court of Appeal judge Justice Kamaludin, who was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner on Nov 1, 2012 and served at the Kuala Lumpur High Court until Sept 11, 2014.
He was then elevated as a High Court Judge and then served at the Kuala Lumpur and Seremban High Court until 2018.
Justice Kamaludin was elevated as a Court of Appeal (Appellate and Special Powers) Judge on Apr 27, 2018 and is currently in charge of judicial reviews.
Another possible candidate, Justice Ahmad Fairuz, was deputy chief executive of the Securities Commission (SC) from Apr 1, 2016 to March 29, 2018.
On March 30, 2018, he was appointed as a Judicial Commissioner at the High Court and on March 25 this year, he was confirmed as a full High Court judge at the commercial division.
Justice Wan Ahmad Farid was in the news last June when he recused himself from hearing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's application to allow Queen's Counsel (QC) Jonathan Laidlaw to represent him in his final appeal in the Federal Court in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
Justice Wan Ahmad Farid was once an active politician and has a family member who is still active in Umno.
He was a senator back in 2008 and was the deputy to then-home minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.
He stepped down as a senator to run as a Barisan Nasional candidate in the Kuala Terengganu by-election in 2009. He, however, lost the election and resigned from Umno before continuing his legal career in 2013.
