KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 ― Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today finally spoke up on what Tan Sri Tommy Thomas had written in a book about him, and defended his appointment of the latter as the attorney-general (AG) during the Pakatan Harapan administration despite objections from many Malays.
The former prime minister said he decided on Thomas who had been recommended to him for the country’s top legal post as he “thought it would be a good thing if the AG is not a Malay”.
“At that time I was disillusioned with a number of Malay AG who were prepared to obey the Prime Minister (Najib) even when instructed to do something obviously wrong,” Dr Mahathir said in a lengthy blog post just days after the release of Thomas’ “tell all” memoir.
“When I became the 7th Prime Minister, I decided to appoint Tommy Thomas. I knew Malays would not like it. But the Malay AGs had not been true to their profession. I was prepared to face criticisms from the Malays. But I could not stop my Malay critics from condemning me over Tommy Thomas’ appointment as AG,” the Langkawi MP added.
Dr Mahathir also said he got on well with Thomas when the latter was attorney-general and he was generally satisfied with the latter’s work.
MORE TO COME