YOURSAY | Grounds prepared for M’sia to take down kleptocrats

YOURSAY | ‘It would not be far-fetched to describe these felons as traitors of the country.’

Tommy Thomas: Why SRC was picked as first 1MDB-related court case

Sun: Tommy Thomas was the only attorney-general who took the trouble to explain his major decisions, instead of hiding behind the letter of the law that shields the AG from explaining any of his decisions (after all, the AG has sole discretion, says the law).

His explanations were always detailed and based on his interpretation of his duties and the laws. They were always offered with a great degree of care and seriousness.

You may or may not agree with his reasoning (that is your right, and Thomas will be the first man to respect that) but at least, he gives you an insight as to why or how he was guided to decide on each case.

Compare that with the laughable and almost flippant reasons offered when the mountain of charges against former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman dropped under the Perikatan Nasional regime, or when a controversial agreement (that short-changed the Malaysian taxpayers) was reached to save the former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s stepson Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz from prosecution.

Any honest evaluation will put Thomas right on top as the best, most competent, and most sincere AG the country has ever had.

Malaysians will remember him for his efforts to bring the big-time crooks to book and save the nation billions by retrieving stolen public property.

MarioT: If there is any award to be given for one’s no-nonsense approach to prosecuting the shady leaders who were stealing our money, then Thomas is truly the rightful recipient.

Thomas, you could have just done your job playing it safe and not delving into fraudulent activities at very high places. But you went ahead, no matter what the consequences are.

Like the advanced level of cancer affliction, we are at the stage four of financial fraud in the government, which has been unchecked and uncontrolled for a very long time.

To transform a long-established shady system of governance into one that has pride, loyalty, dignity and honesty to serve the nation may take a while, but I think the actions so far look positive.

Those who are involved, and seen to be involved, seem to play on people's sentiments to try to portray themselves as having done nothing wrong but only made “sacrifices” for the nation.

There is no bigger crime or betrayal than those who are given the trust to lead the nation but take this opportunity to plunder and live in unimaginable luxury at people's expense. It would not be far-fetched to describe these felons as traitors of the country.

The revelations made so far may appear to be a small portion of a large iceberg. The 15th general elections offer hope for more changes to take place for the better.

Vijay47: The excellence and effectiveness of your efforts, Thomas, are so clearly evident in the results of the Najib trial, and, of course, separately, the Rosmah Mansor case. Congratulations, you did the impossible, sir, and the nation owes you immense gratitude.

Though I am not too sure whether the remaining three parts of this Malaysiakini interview will cover them, three issues bewilder all of us:

1. The general perception is that Najib was treated with kid gloves throughout his trial - initially not perched on the dock, then never wearing the traditional purple or orange, and being allowed postponements for the most trivial of reasons. Why was Najib allowed such liberties which are not available to the common accused?

2. Why was there no appeal against the Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor acquittal?

3. Why were charges of former Sabah chief minister Aman Musa dropped?

Man on the Silver Mountain: The corruption charges against the politicians were very important to the people and they (errant politicians) should be brought to justice for the law to deal with.

Being politicians, they would surely use political means to wriggle out from their guilt, to somehow justify it and perhaps to emerge victorious in the trial. Some people can see this, but some may believe their excuses and antics.

The corruption charges are important because they affected the country and every citizen therein. In these cases, they affect us negatively.

And that is why we care.

Way To Go: Thomas is amazing. Typical of the 'boy next door’, he makes it sound so easy. But in reality, his achievement is antithetical to the philosophy of mediocrity that rules the day.

Honestly, I wonder if anyone could achieve so much in so little time. And imagine if Pakatan Harapan had stayed longer. All of Najib's big boys could have been rounded up and Thomas would be in the Guinness Book of Records as the man that nailed the kleptocracy in Malaysia.

While the credit for the successful prosecution and sending the chief kleptocrat (MO1) to his predestined home were equally important and goes to all the players, including the AG's Chambers and the judiciary, it can be debated if anyone less than Thomas could have got the ball rolling in the more critical initial stage.

Kevin Morais disappeared, Abdul Gani Patail was sacked and Mohamed Apandi Ali ‘abdicated’. Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad takes the cake for appointing Thomas at a time when current PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would have gone for a Malay in order “not to spook the Malays”.

Anonymous_3f4b: The main culprit who started all this nonsense and was not charged was his former boss, Mahathir.

Hrrmph: "I was determined to get the best and the brightest... and Malaysia deserved the best lawyers," said Thomas.

I wish the rest of the government think that, nay, I wish all Malaysians think we deserve the best.

Imagine our government, peopled by the best and the brightest. We might even be ahead of Singapore in terms of economy and our currency on par, at least. How nice that would have been!

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