Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said there should be an established set of criteria at the Attorney-General's Chambers on prosecution instead of it being the "personal wish" of the public prosecutor.

In Malaysia, it is the AG's absolute discretion to decide whether to prosecute a case, he said when delivering a keynote address at Malaysia's War on Corruption symposium 2015.

"If the AG sees a crime involving billions of dollars, but decides not to prosecute as this (involves) somebody above him, there is nothing we can do," Mahathir said.

If the AG makes a wrong decision, he added, there is nothing the people can do either.

Thus, he suggested, there should be a set of criteria in the AG's Chambers to take over such a role from the AG.

The current system gives a lot of power to the AG, he said.

The government does not need to amend the federal constitution to restrict the role of the AG, he added.

During the question-and-answer session, Mahathir stressed that responsible freedom of speech can contain corruption.

He also said corruption could drive up the cost of living as the private sector would resort to bribery to get things done (in its dealings) with the government.

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