Abdul Gani Patail Claims Ignorance Over His Termination As Attorney-General
Abdul Gani Patail's service as the Attorney-General were terminated, after he held the post for 11 years.
By Sadho Ram — 28 Jul 2015, 01:14 PM
Abdul Gani was not terminated, rather declined renewal of post
Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was not terminated from office as Attorney-General (AG) but had declined a renewal offer as he suffers from kidney failure, sources close to the government said today.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources added that Abdul Gani has however agreed to remain in government service until October when he will then officially retire having reached the mandatory pension age.
“He has got kidney failure and undergoes dialysis three times a week. PM had offered him a renewal but he did not accept. In view of his ill health, the government decided to appoint a new AG,” said one of the sources.
themalaymailonline.com
28 JUL: Abdul Gani Patail's services has Attorney-General has been terminated ahead of his retirement date in October and amidst the ongoing special task force probe on 1MDB, which he is involved in. He is being replaced by the former Federal Court judge Mohamed Apandi Ali with immediate effect, according to Astro AWANI.
Abdul Gani Patail’s service as Attorney-General has been terminated. Mohamed Apandi is the new AG, reports @501Awani. pic.twitter.com/IBeIIR3eeT
— Latest on SAYS (@saysdotcom) July 28, 2015
Announcing this Tuesday, Chief Secretary to the Government Dr Ali Hamsa said Gani Patail was replaced due to his health reasons, adding that Gani would continue to serve as the Judicial and Legal Service Officer until his mandatory retirement on 6 October 2015
The matter was revealed by government news agency Bernama, chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa released a statement this morning stating that Abdul Gani's services were terminated early due to the latter's "health problems".
malaysiakini.comHe also said Abdul Gani would continue to serve as Judicial and Legal Service Officer until his mandatory retirement on Oct 6 this year.
"Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has contributed tremendously to the country as the attorney-general. On behalf of the government, I wish to record my deepest appreciation and thanks for the service he has rendered and hope he will always be blessed with good health," he said.
Ali Hamsa said the appointment of Mohamed Apandi was made in accordance with Article 145(1) of the Federal Constitution
He added that the appointment of Apandi as AG received the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah upon the advice of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Mohamed Apandi holds an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of London and is a barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple London. He has also pursued studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London.
He has served as a magistrate at the Kuala Terengganu Magistrate's Court; as a deputy public prosecutor in Kelantan and Terengganu: as a judge of the High Court of Malaya; as a judge of the Court of Appeal and as a judge of the Federal Court.
However, Ali's statement makes no mention if either Abdul Gani or Mohamed Apandi will be involved with the special task force probing allegations of financial misappropriation in 1MDB
This includes the allegation that RM2.6 billion had been channelled into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts.
The special task force has already detained at least five people in connection with the case and seized documents from the offices of 1MDB and companies linked to it.
Among his notable verdicts as Federal Court judge was when he overturned the Kuala Lumpur High Court's verdict allowing the Catholic Church's organ The Herald to use the term "Allah".
Abdul Gani Patail, whose services as the AG was terminated on 27 July, who is reportedly in dark over his termination, told Malaysiakini that "I don't want to say a word" about it
Asked if this was related to the special task force probing 1MDB, he replied: "Never mind. I don't want to say a word. Nanti saya cakap ni banyaklah."
It is unclear if Abdul Gani meant that he would elaborate on the matter later when he remarked, "nanti saya cakap in banyaklah."
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, IDEAS chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan said that the sacking of Abdul Gani Patail as Attorney-General is unacceptable and raises questions about the intention behind it
In a statement released today, Wan Saiful said that Gani’s termination in the middle of the ongoing investigation involving the Prime Minister raised a lot of questions about the intention behind his sacking and strengthened suspicions that the Prime Minister was desperately trying to stay in office.
“People are already talking about a potential desperate conspiracy by the Prime Minister to stay in office. This action unfortunately strengthens the conspiracy theory and further weakens the moral authority of Najib to stay in office,” said Wan Saiful.
“The sacking of Gani does not solve any problem, but instead raises even more questions. I am now worried if other members of the special taskforce investigating 1MDB will be out under pressure by the top. Will critical cabinet members be sacked too?”
He commented that despite the apparent potential conflict of interest in Gani’s role as both Attorney-General and Public Prosecutor, sacking him was not the way to resolve the conflict
“It should be resolved by reforming the system, not by sacking the Attorney- General. Tan Sri Gani’s service was supposed to end in October anyway so there is no reason for this early sacking,” said Wan Saiful.