The federal government and the Prime Minister are now stuck between a rock and a hard place.
This is my verdict after Monday when the Court of Appeal ruled to allow former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s appeal to have the merits of his challenge over the existence of an addendum.
This addendum, purportedly issued by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong for Najib to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest, is to be heard at the High Court.
In a split decision, Judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi, who led the bench, was in the minority when Judges Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli and Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril allowed Najib’s appeal.
Najib’s counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, submitted a letter from the Pahang palace, which is said to affirm the existence of a supplementary order from the former Agong.
The purported letter is currently being circulated on social media and appears to put to rest any doubts over the existence of the addendum order.
During the hearing, Mohd Firuz said he was disturbed by the absence of any letter from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) or the government challenging the addendum.
Shafee, later during his press conference, showed the letter to the press.
The counsel took his time to exhibit the piece of correspondence in front of the cameras, from the envelope itself and the royal seal of the Pahang palace etched into the cover.
It was one of those “Gotcha” moments that one would see in Hollywood courtroom movies, whereby the lawyer produces the ‘smoking gun’ to dramatic effect.
Indeed, to many people who support Najib as well as those who are sympathetic to his cause, it was the smoking gun.
This is because, all this while, the federal government has been sidestepping questions on whether the addendum exists or not.
Then we also learned from the spin doctors supporting the government that the addendum might not be legally binding, as it was made outside of the meeting.
The argument posits that if the addendum order is non-existent or merely a creation by Najib’s team and supporters, then stating that the order does not exist should suffice, bringing the matter to a close.
But it was never addressed, and the silence was deafening. Did the people in this government expect the matter to be resolved if they closed their eyes?
I remember the moment when the partial pardon was granted by the former Agong; it took days for the matter to be announced.
Talks within political circles were that Najib was set to be given a full pardon, only for him to be partially pardoned due to interference from within. Until today, we have yet to learn what happened.
But regardless, after the court ruling, the people in the government went into a panic, with the Home Minister calling for a press conference.
Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his Ministry did not receive any orders from the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division on allowing Najib to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
He said the Home Ministry only received a letter from the division that detailed meeting minutes of the Pardons Board, which met on Jan 29 and Feb 2 last year.
Fahmi Fadzil, the Communications Minister, in a separate press conference, claims that the government did not conceal the royal addendum.
Former Attorney General Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, who was made a scapegoat for the mix-up, did not have much to say to the press when approached.
Terrirudin, who was the sitting Attorney General when the addendum was addressed to his Chambers, essentially evaded the questions asked of him by reporters.
“No, no, no…” he said briefly before hastily heading towards the building’s exit.
Meanwhile, Terrirudin’s successor Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, when approached at the same event, also remained tight-lipped on the issue. “I will not comment,” he said.
Questions linger on whether the addendum was hidden or lost in transit. In all honesty, you can’t make this up.
There are now even calls for the Prime Minister to be accountable for the government’s inability to execute the addendum.
To say that things are getting extremely tricky for Putrajaya would be an understatement. But as the old political saying goes, the buck stops at the Prime Minister.
He must speak up and provide clarity; failing that, he will bear the political price.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Sarawak Tribune.
