PETALING JAYA: Lawyers Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Siti Kasim have hit out at the unity government after being summoned to Bukit Aman on Thursday (Jan 19) over a remark made by former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas at a forum last year.
In a Facebook video on Thursday, Ambiga questioned whether the investigation on Thomas was one of Umno’s demands towards Pakatan Harapan, when forming the unity government.
"Let me ask the reformist government, Pakatan Harapan - is this one of the demands by Umno in relation to the investigation against Tommy Thomas.
"Is it related to the book... it is clear to me that it (investigations against Thomas) is connected to the charges that have been brought against some of the Umno leaders.
"This is an utter abuse of power. What else have you (Pakatan) given away to Umno?" she said.
Umno is part of the unity government led by Pakatan's Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, alongside Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, as well as MPs from Muda, Warisan, Parti Bangsa Malaysia and Independents.
Siti meanwhile questioned whether such investigations were aimed to suppress the freedom of expression.
"We can’t say anything if we are unhappy (about something) and this is something the government has to seriously look at," she said.
At a forum in September last year, Thomas urged the Opposition to get voters to ask themselves whether a "Malay government" had led to the country being better and more efficient.
The police then launched an investigation against Thomas over his remark.
Thomas was appointed as the attorney general under the former Pakatan government in 2018, but resigned after the administration collapsed in February 2020.
The special task force report on his book - "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness" - has since been declassified and the 241-page report was made public on the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department website on Oct 21 last year.
On Jan 11, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law and institutional reforms Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said a Royal Commission of Inquiry would be set up to further scrutinise the book.
