Legal Immunity Bid Anwar Won T Succeed Najib Has Tried And Failed Pn

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Perikatan Nasional has again chided Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for trying to use his position as a shield against legal actions by seeking qualified immunity from lawsuits.
The opposition coalition believes Anwar would not succeed in his bid, saying a similar move had been attempted by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak when he was sued over alleged abuse of power in the 1MDB case.
PN chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said the Federal Court had ruled in 2019 that a prime minister is a public officer and can be sued.
"This case has also set an important precedent that a prime minister is not immune from any civil lawsuit or tort related to abuse of their public office, let alone against actions done in their personal capacity.
"In other words, there is no citizen, including a prime minister, who is above the law and no position can be used to shield them from legal actions over personal acts," Takiyuddin (above) said in a statement.
On Nov 19, 2019, a six-member Federal Court bench made a unanimous ruling that a prime minister and other cabinet ministers can be sued for misfeasance in public office and that the government can be made vicariously liable for their actions.
The decision was made to allow the appeals by the then-Damansara MP Tony Pua in his 2017 tort of misfeasance suit against Najib and the government in relation to 1MDB.
Adding further, Takiyuddin said PN was confident that the justice system would act independently in deciding Anwar's application without any fear or favour.
Confusing statement
The former law minister also criticised Anwar's senior aide Shamsul Iskandar Akin for allegedly issuing a confusing statement regarding the premier's case.
PM’s senior aide Shamsul Iskandar AkinShamsul had denied that Anwar was seeking absolute immunity for his office.
"PN sees this statement as confusing and misleading because it was clear that one of the main prayers in (Anwar's) application to refer the case to the Federal Court was about immunity," Takiyuddin said.
Anwar made a 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. - Mkini

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