Najib does not respect separation of powers, says Dr Mahathir

arman98 · Post time 20-10-2015 09:33 PM

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak does not respect the principle of separation of powers between the legislative, executive and the judiciary, his supporter-turned-detractor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today. "Currently, the prime minister, as head of the elected legislators, is clearly not respecting these principles," the former prime minister said in his personal blog posting today. He was referring to Najib's alleged intervention in the investigations into troubled state-owned investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which led to the dissolution of a special task force that was in charge of the probe. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1400601790726-3');}); "For example, officers of the administration who were investigating 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib's personal accounts, were transferred out to the Prime Minister’s Office, resulting in their stopping their investigation work. Their replacements were apparently made with approval from the prime minister himself. "Officers of the MACC have been similarly treated, again resulting in the investigations being obstructed," he added. Dr Mahathir also cited the example of the removal of former Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail from his position in the midst of the probe into 1MDB."The A-G, a member of the judicial establishment, was removed while he was carrying out the task of preparing the said case for the courts. In his place, a judge was transferred to take over as A-G. This is actually usurping the powers of the judiciary," he said."The A-G was said to be sick, but he denied he was sick. As far as it's known, no medical certificate certifying that he was sick seems to have been issued."Gani, who was head of the 1MDB task force, was abruptly removed from his post in July on the grounds of ill health and was replaced with Federal Court judge Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.Dr Mahathir said these incidents were probably what made the Malay rulers issue a decree on October 6 calling for the investigations into 1MDB to be completed quickly. "All these are public knowledge. The Rulers may have heard and probably received petitions on the authoritarian disregard for the law and rules of government," Dr Mahathir said."If in their opinion the government should allow expeditious investigations to be carried over the issues of concern to the people and the country it is the duty of the Ruler to make known to the government the dissatisfaction of the people over the issue and to ask for the matter to be attended to,” he said.The Conference of Rulers had said that investigations into 1MDB must be made public in order to show that nothing was hidden in the probe into the state-owned investment firm.The Malay rulers, who as sultans are ceremonial heads of their respective states and guardians of Islam, said they wanted Putrajaya to complete the investigation as soon as possible and act against those found to be implicated.They added that the failure to give convincing answers might have resulted in a crisis of confidence. The rulers said they were also worried that if the issue was not handled wisely and allowed to drag on, it could undermine the country's economy and the people's livelihood. They feared that this could also threaten public order and national security. – October 20, 2015. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.c ... thash.pOKJIDPA.dpuf