THE Malay rulers will have an emergency meeting on Tuesday to resolve the impasse over the appointment of a new attorney-general (A-G), the Istana Negara said today.

Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal Syed Danial Syed Ahmad said invitation letters had been sent out to the Malay rulers two days ago.

“At this moment, Putrajaya and Istana Negara have not arrived at any agreement regarding the termination of service of the current A-G and the candidate for his replacement.

“The Malay rulers have been following this development and consider it their responsibility to help resolve this impasse,” Syed Danial said in a statement.

There are nine rulers and a simple majority among them will resolve the matter.

The Malaysian Insight reported that PH had written to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) asking for the removal of Mohamed Apandi Ali and to replace him with renown lawyer Tommy Thomas, the unanimous choice of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Amanah, Bersatu, DAP and PKR felt that the appointment of a respected legal name would send the right signal to Malaysians and the rest of the world that the new government was serious about reforming the country’s institutions.

Also, the appointment would ensure the presence of a skilled litigator in the chambers to handle all high-profile cases, including the prosecution of those involved in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

The Malaysian Insight understands that the YDPA and the other Malay rulers want the attorney-general to be a Malay-Muslim.

However, bloggers such as Syed Akhbar Ali have pointed out that the constitution does not say that the position must be filled by a Malay-Muslim.

Rais Yatim, a recognised protector of the Malay language and culture, today threw his support behind Thomas being named the new attorney-general.

The former information, communication, and culture minister urged everyone to stop bickering on the issue, asking that they respect Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s choice for the key position.

“There is nothing wrong with Thomas as A-G. Stop this bickering when there are no legal grounds to bicker,” he said in a tweet today.

Rais said that the federal constitution allowed a non-Malay to be appointed as the attorney-general.

A noted Malay nationalist, Rais said that according to the constitution, the YDPA must act on the advice given by the prime minister, and the government of the day had already made up its mind.

“Following Article 145 of the federal constitution, the YDPA, with very limited exceptions, stands advised as per Article 40. Let the prime minister get on with the job with his cabinet,” he said in his tweet.

Article 145 touches on the appointment of the attorney-general by the YDPA on the advice of the prime minister.

Article 40 states that the YDPA is compelled to act on the advice of the prime minister or the current cabinet. – June 3, 2018.