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'AG has absolute power to declare PM innocent'
Published:  Jan 27, 2016 4:52 PM
Updated: 9:13 AM

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's decision to absolve Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of any wrongdoing cannot be challenged, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said said today.

This is because the attorney-general's powers under Article 145(3) of the federal constitution were absolute, she said.

This included the power to stop any legal proceedings, a move which cannot even be challenged by the courts.

"In other words, if any party doesn't agree with the attorney-general's actions in handling any prosecution, they don't have any basis to challenge it in a quorum," Azalina said in a statement today.

She was referring to Apandi's announcement yesterday that Najib had not committed any offence with regard to the RM2.6 billion (US$681 million) donation and RM42 million from SRC International deposited into his personal bank accounts.

The decision, she said, had taken into account various aspects of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) probe.

As such, she said the decision should not be questioned, and should not be debated.

Her statement came as the MACC seeks to submit Apandi's decision to the graftbusters's Operations Review Panel (PPO).

The PPO is an independent panel that reviews cases from the MACC that are not pursued by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

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