KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today reiterated his denial that he had a discussion with the then-Attorney-General (A-G) over the discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) given to Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the latter's corruption case.
Addressing the Dewan Rakyat today, Anwar said he had only requested the A-G to clarify the reasons behind the discharge granted to Zahid, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister 1.
"When the A-G made the decision, I only asked him on why (was the discharge given to Zahid). There was no discussion prior to it (with the AG) as some had claimed.
"The A-G then provided me with 11 reasons for the decision to drop the charges," he said during his winding-up speech for the 12th Malaysian Plan (12MP) mid-term review in Parliament today.
Anwar said he was compelled to address the matter following opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin's claim last week that the prime minister had discussed the case with the A-G.
Previously, A-G Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh had announced that in Zahid's case, the charges were dropped in line with Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution.
Article 145(3) provides the A-G with the discretion to conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence.
Terrirudin said 11 representation letters were submitted by Zahid's legal team to drop the charges, adding that the representation submitted consisted of many details to be scrutinised before any decisions were made.
Terrirudin also stated that both the A-G and the Attorney-General Chambers (A-GC) cannot arbitrarily reject the representations submitted and are in the best position to decide whether the charges should be dropped or not based on various factors.
Anwar also raised questions about those who asserted that he had interfered in the decision not to prosecute Zahid, even though the authority for such decisions rested with the former A-G, Tan Sri Idrus Harun.
"Why made blatant and rude allegations, attacking the prime minister and assuming that I had intervened in Zahid's court case.
"It was the decision made by the A-G. The A-G that was elected under the administration of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin."
He added that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had also made a decision that the investigation into Zahid's graft case would continue and that if there are new evidences.