LEGAL group Lawyers for Liberty has called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to halt all investigations into his critics and uphold Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) promise of government reform.

Director Zaid Malek said the new government must avoid the pitfalls and excesses of previous governments, if it truly wants to empower free speech and a robust democratic culture.

“It is unacceptable for the new government, which promised reforms, to immediately call for police action against critics of the prime minister,” he said in a statement.

However, to call for the prime minister to halt investigations commenced by enforcement authorities is also unacceptable.

It would be an abuse of power for the prime minister to order police investigations into him – or anyone for that matter – to be halted or dropped.

The proper call to be made is to not interfere with the work of police or other investigative authorities, like the MACC.

Let no one interfere or meddle with these authorities. Full stop.

Let these authorities do their work and fulfil their duties under the law, without fear or favour. – December 1, 2022.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.