The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has yet to approve the appointment of Abdul Gani Patail as the new attorney-general.

According to Dewan Rakyat speaker Dr Mohamed Zahir Ismail today, the application for the said appointment had been made and the approval from the King was still pending.

However, he claimed that this was done according to section 145(1) of the Federal Constitution which states that "the Agong, acting on the advice of the prime minister, will appoint a person qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court to be the attorney-general for the federation".

"Abdul Gani Patail will be appointed to take over the position on Jan 1 next year. This means the official appointment of Abdul Gani has not been made until that date," said Mohamed Zahir, in a letter to an opposition member of Parliament.

"This also meant that former Attorney General Ainum Mohd Saaid's resignation and Gani's appointment was not made on the same day as implied by the honourable MP," he added.

Appointment 'unconstitutional'

Mohamed was responding to Teresa Kok (DAP - Seputeh) who applied for an emergency motion for the House to debate the appointment of the new attorney-general which she considered 'unconstitutional'.

According to Kok, the announcement of Abdul Gani's appointment was premature.

In her letter to the speaker dated Nov 23, Kok said that Ainum's resignation and Abdul Gani's appointment appeared to have occurred on the same day.

This, she said, raises the question whether Abdul Gani's appointment was in accordance with the Federal Constitution.

"After receiving Ainum's resignation, the prime minister should take some time to inform the cabinet about the selection of the attorney-general and submit the names of those selected to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and His Majesty will act according to the advice. It is impossible for the whole process to have been done in one day," said Kok.

Moreover, the late King, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, was then seriously ill. He died last Wednesday and a new King is expected to be elected next month.

Fabricate evidence

Kok said that Abdul Gani's appointment was 'mysterious' as he has yet to clarify on two allegations against him.

In ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's controversial sodomy case in 1998, Gani was alleged to have coerced tennis partner S Nalakaruppan to fabricate evidence against the former. Nalakaruppan in return for a lighter sentence.

Nalakaruppan was charged with possession of firearms and could be sentenced to death if found guilty.

Gani had also attempted to protect Rafidah Aziz, minister of international trade and industries, from five charges of corruption, Kok added.

Mohamed rejected Kok's application in chambers today on the basis that the motion was not urgent and not of a specific nature.

He said the allegations made against Abdul Gani were merely allegations and cannot be used as an excuse to invoke the House's standing order for an emergency resolution.

Questionable sequence of events

In an immediate response, Kok said she found it hard to accept the speaker's explanation on the matter. She accused the Parliament as just being a 'rubber stamp'.

"If the appointment is done according to the constitution, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Rais Yatim should not have made the announcement to appoint Abdul Gani right after Ainum's resignation, which he did on Nov 19," said Kok.

"The government should make the announcement after the cabinet's approval and after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has acted on the advice of the prime minister. This only means that the appointment did not follow the constitution, nor does it respect the position of His Majesty," she added.

Kok also said the allegations against Abdul Gani was not 'merely allegation' as stated by the speaker. It was made by a Federal Court judge as well as former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and should be looked upon seriously by the House, said Kok.

During a Federal Court sitting in June this year, Sabah and Sarawak Chief Justice Steve Shim, Federal Court Judges Abdul Malek Ahmad and Haidar Mohd Noor have said that Abdul Gani needed to explain the charges levelled against him.

In July 1999, Anwar had filed a police report against Abdul Gani for protecting Rafidah and not prosecuting her for corruption.