Taking aim at Umno’s Tajuddin, PH wants ‘insolent’ AG sacked

Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) top leaders today renewed their call for Idrus Harun to be sacked as attorney-general, saying he appears no longer able to carry out his official duties in a neutral and professional manner, including in giving advice to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

They said he had been insolent in, among others, his statement on June 25 concerning the powers of the king and the advice of the Cabinet which they said had trivialised and scorned the views of the Malay rulers.

“While Article 145(2) of the Federal Constitution states that it is the duty of the attorney-general to advise the Agong or Cabinet or any minister on any matters of law, questions have arisen on whether the attorney-general can fulfil his duties impartially,” they said in a statement issued by PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu.

They also questioned why Umno’s Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, who recently broke ranks with the decision of his party leadership to revoke support for the prime minister, had yet to be charged with corruption.

Tajuddin was called in for questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on May 28.

The Pasir Salak MP was among senior Umno leaders who had disagreed with president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s proposal to revoke the party’s support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

“If we pull out now, do you think the government will collapse? They may go to DAP, to get an understanding. DAP will support, it does not have to join the government, they just give their vote,” he had said during a Supreme Council meeting on July 7, hours before Zahid’s announcement on the matter.

He also said there was no guarantee that Umno could solve the problems of Covid-19 and the economy.

Idrus meanwhile had said on June 25 that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong remains a constitutional monarch bound by the advice of the Cabinet despite the state of emergency.

He said, among others, that the Agong must exercise his power to summon a parliamentary proceeding as provided for under Article 55 of the Federal Constitution as well as the current emergency ordinance, but within his role as a constitutional monarch.