PM not seeking immunity, says aide after LFL urges AG to intervene

Summary

• Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s senior aide comes to his defence, refuting claims that the premier is seeking absolute immunity.

• Anwar’s senior political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Akin says the issue is instead whether a civil action can disrupt the prime minister’s duties.

• He says it is irresponsible to equate the legal application with authoritarianism.

A senior aide to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim refuted claims that the premier is seeking absolute immunity for his office.

Instead, Anwar’s senior political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Akin said the issue is whether a civil action can disrupt the prime minister’s duties as the state executive.

“This is a valid and lawful consideration to be referred to the Federal Court, which is the highest judicial authority in the country with the jurisdiction to interpret the Constitution fairly and objectively,” Shamsul said in a statement on Facebook today.

He was responding to Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek, who called for Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar to intervene in the matter.

This follows 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.

In a statement, Zaid called the questions posed through Anwar’s application “preposterous”, adding that there was no legal basis for a sitting prime minister’s immunity from civil suits.

He said the fact that Anwar had filed such a claim was a warning bell that signalled the latter’s intent to install a backdoor through which the concept of legal immunity for a prime minister could be introduced.

Not authoritarian

Commenting further, Shamsul said it is irresponsible to equate this legal application with authoritarianism.

He slammed Zaid’s statement as inaccurate and misleading to the public, saying the application is part of a lawful process.

He said that Anwar should not be made a target of what he called “politically motivated attacks to destabilise the government”.

Besides that, he said democratic countries often debate the concept of qualified immunity to balance it against the national administration's needs as well as individual rights.

He said that the judiciary will decide on the case based on facts and the law.

“I urge all parties to respect the rule of law and not abuse legal channels for political narrative-building. Let the courts decide.

“This nation has endured far too many episodes of legal manipulation for political gain. All disputes should be resolved through proper legal avenues, not through emotional manipulation of the public,” he said.

Guard the Constitution

Yesterday, opposition chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan also called on Dusuki to intervene, saying the AG should act as a guardian of the Constitution in line with his oath of office, warning that the case could set a dangerous precedent.

Abusing the principle of legal immunity could not only tarnish the credibility of the prime minister’s role, but also pave the way for abuse of power, he said.

Yusoff had filed a civil action against Anwar in 2021, accusing the latter 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.

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