PETALING JAYA: One judge from the Court of Appeal and two from the High Court are being considered as replacements for Tan Sri Idrus Harun as attorney general (AG).
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Idrus 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 by the new government.
Three names had been presented to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his consideration before he advises the King on who should be appointed the next AG.
All three are judges, added the source.
“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 yesterday.
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.
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.
Justice Kamaludin was appointed 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 served at the Kuala Lumpur and Seremban High Court until 2018.
Justice Kamaludin was elevated as a Court of Appeal judge on April 27, 2018, and is currently in charge of judicial reviews.
Another possible candidate, Justice Ahmad Fairuz, was deputy chief executive of the Securities Commission from April 1, 2016, to March 29, 2018.
On March 30, 2018, he was appointed Judicial Commissioner and on March 25 this year, he was elevated as a 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 declared he 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 deputy to then home minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.
