Tommy Thomas Reveals Dr Mahathir Told Him To Resign A Day After Being Appointed As AG
The former attorney general reveals this and more in his memoir titled 'My Story: Justice in the Wilderness'.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 27 Jan 2021, 01:17 PM
In the prologue of his new book, former attorney general (AG) Tommy Thomas reveals that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad told him to relinquish his position as the AG a day after he was appointed to the top post
Titled My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, Tommy's new book is a memoir that will go on sale this 30 January.
Bookstore Gerakbudaya yesterday, 26 January, teased the content of the autobiography by sharing four pages of the book, including forewords written by Clare Rewcastle Brown, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, and Kishore Mahbubani, along with the table of contents, and the prologue.
It is on the first page of the prologue that Tommy unveils his excitement of getting appointed as the main legal advisor to the government on 5 June 2018 — as well as the appalling request from then premier Dr Mahathir to resign from the position the next day.
"I was elated and grateful for the incredible professional opportunity that awaited me. I thanked Tun for his continued support," Tommy wrote.
However, "The rug was immediately pulled from under my feet."
He said after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had assented to his appointment, Dr Mahathir dropped a "bombshell" and told him to resign because of strong opposition among the Malay community against his appointment.
I was utterly astonished. Tun wanted my resignation the next day.
"The professional opportunity of a lifetime had slipped out of my fingers before I could even take a breath."
Even with that said, Tommy was ready to comply
He told his team to draft a press release to announce his resignation.
The former AG said he had to put on a "brave face" in front of people who were congratulating him while he was feeling crushed inside.
His team told him to refuse to resign, but he said he had to respect Dr Mahathir's decision even if he "could see no justification to it".
Before readers could know what happens next, page one of the prologue ends there.
A comment on Gerakbudaya's Facebook post read, "What a cliffhanger. Must buy."
Other than detailing how he was appointed as the AG, the memoir also chronicles his career as a Malaysian barrister and his involvement as a prosecutor in the 1MDB and Altantuya cases, among others
The table of contents shows that the book is over 522 pages long and a big portion of it accounts his 20-month stint as the AG.
The book will contain topics concerning Jho Low's former yacht Equanimity, the inquest to fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim's death, racism, the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government, and many more.
The memoir is priced at RM72.
To pre-order the book, visit Gerakbudaya's online store here.
