DECEMBER 24 — On April 1, 1976, Lim Kit Siang, then Member of Parliament (MP) for Kota Melaka stood up in the Dewan Rakyat during the Questions for Answers session to ask the Minister for Law with regards to corruption allegations against the then menteri besar (MB) of Selangor, Harun Idris.
In his oral answer, the minister said that since charges against the MB would be brought before the court soon, any statement on the matter would not be proper and the House should not discuss the matter further.
The minister was Abdul Kadir Yusof who was also the attorney general (AG) and MP for Tenggaroh. Abdul Kadir was appointed the Minister for Law and AG in 1974 by then prime minister, the late Abdul Razak Hussein. He had been the AG since 1963.
Abdul Kadir was succeeded as the AG by Hamzah Abu Samah, who was then the MP for Temerloh. Abdul Kadir and Hamzah were lawyers by training. Hamzah was the last AG-MP.
The call for the AG to be appointed from among MPs has been made and heard in recent years — by none more prominent than Azalina Othman Said.
She was the Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker when she said in July 2021 that the AG should be an MP so as to hold the AG accountable and answerable to Parliament directly.
The AG should answer questions in Parliament. Just like Abdul Kadir Yusof and Hamzah Abu Samah.
Let’s have an MP or a Senator as AG. Or make the AG a Senator.
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
