LANGKAWI: Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun has been urged to provide an explanation to all Malaysians pertaining to a lawsuit filed by Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali against former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Malaysian government.
Dr Mahathir said Idrus' clarification through a letter to him (Dr Mahathir) was insufficient as the public is still feeling restless over the issue.
"Yes, I received a letter from him (Idrus). Usually, the letter is considered a secret (confidential). So I can't say much. It is he who should've explained it to the public.
"I don't accept his explanation. Be it the current A-G (Idrus) or (former A-G) Apandi, I don't accept both," he said during a media conference after the launch of Hotel Mercure here today.
Dr Mahathir said the issue should have been brought up to the courts so that the people would be able to evaluate who's on the right side.
"If it's brought to the courts, we can find out whether the accusation that we (the then government) had illegally terminated (Apandi) is true or not.
"As per normal practice, any government officer who had not performed their duties responsibly will be terminated."
He said among actions that have been previously taken against such civil servants were to either send them on leave or place them as a temporary officer in a new department before their services end.
"This is not a new practice or only for Apandi. Many people have gone through this, but no one has ever made claims.
"In fact, we can see that when he was the A-G, he was not fair to all. (As A-G) he should not have sided with anyone."
Dr Mahathir added that Putrajaya shouldn't have offered a settlement to Apandi after the latter filed a legal suit, saying that the government at the time had followed all proper procedures before terminating him.