'AG should prevent dangerous precedents in PM's immunity claim'

Summary

• Perikatan Nasional has called on Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar to intervene in Anwar Ibrahim’s Federal Court bid on constitutional immunity, warning of potential abuse of power.

• Takiyuddin Hassan argues that the attorney-general must uphold the Constitution and prevent precedents that could weaken political leaders’ legal accountability.

Perikatan Nasional has urged Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar to intervene in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to pose constitutional questions to the Federal Court regarding legal immunity for his office.

The coalition’s chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said Dusuki should act as a guardian of the Constitution in line with his oath of office, warning that the case could set a dangerous precedent.

“If the principle of legal immunity is abused or used selectively, it not only tarnishes the credibility of the nation’s premier institution, but also paves the way for abuse of power and undermines the people’s faith in the justice system,” he said in a statement today.

Takiyuddin said the attorney-general should act as an intervenor or amicus curiae in Anwar’s application. An amicus curiae (meaning “friend of the court” in Latin) refers to someone who is not a party to a case but is allowed to make submissions or advise the court on the case.

The attorney-general should study the validity of Anwar’s application and officially advise the prime minister if it goes against the spirit and letter of the Constitution.

He should also prevent any judicial precedents that could weaken the legal responsibility of political leaders for their actions, Takiyuddin said.

“The rule of law is the foundation of democracy. No one, even the prime minister, is above the law.

“The guardian of the Constitution is not a tool of power – he is the people’s last line of defence against tyranny,” he added.

8 constitutional questions

The statement came following Anwar’s court filing last week that reportedly sought to refer eight constitutional questions to the Federal Court, including whether he gets immunity from civil proceedings initiated by his former research assistant Yusoff Rawther.

Yusoff had filed a civil action against Anwar in 2021, accusing Anwar of sexually assaulting him in the PKR president’s office in October 2018.

Anwar is seeking a definitive ruling from the apex court on whether Articles 39, 40, and 43 of the Federal Constitution provide him with qualified immunity against the legal action brought by Yusoff.

Anwar is also asking the apex court to determine whether allowing the lawsuit to proceed would compromise his ability to effectively perform his executive responsibilities and breach the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers.

Takiyuddin said that if Anwar felt that Yusoff’s case against him was baseless, he could have followed legal procedures to apply to strike out the lawsuit on various grounds, such as if the suit is deemed an abuse of court process or frivolous and vexatious.

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