Kadir, writing in his blog, said it would be anti-democratic for politicians and national leaders to remain silent and not speak up on behalf of the people but who also deny and dismiss the role of public opinion.
He said Apandi Ali must run the gauntlet on his handling of high-profile cases such as 1Malaysia Development Bhd, the RM2.6 billion political “donation” into Najib Razak’s bank account and the SRC International investigation.
Kadir said the latest financial scandal coming out of the woodwork was the PR1MA scandal involving Syarikat Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia in the wake of the death of its chairman Jamaluddin Jarjis in a helicopter crash last April.
“As a lawyer, former politician and former judge, Apandi Ali should be familiar with the public evaluating and coming to a consensus on issues of public concern and public interest,” said Kadir, former chief editor of the New Straits Times group, and an ally of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin.
Kadir said Apandi Ali should be even more sensitive to public opinion than others “given that he has family members in the media. His wife is a former journalist and his brother-in-law is the Chief Editor of a online news portal.”
He said Apandi would continue to face public scrutiny as long as he failed to bring the financial scandals to the law courts. “Even after these cases are brought to court, the public will continue to give their views,” he said.
Kadir said public opinion was important in a democracy. “The people might be restricted to electing a government every four or five years but they are not restricted from giving their views in between elections.”
He noted that Anwar Ibrahim’s trials on sodomy charges showed that people did not accept the verdicts and even, among those who believe that he was wrong, were inclined to hold that the cases were politically-motivated conspiracies.
“They ask which is worse . . . the sexual act between two adults or acts that involve the loss of billions and the nation’s assets?”
Kadir said other senior officials and those suspected of involvement in financial scandals would also be judged by the public “long before they are dragged to Court and even after that”.
He said that if the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission and Bank Negara were truly independent, and the Attorney General able to act without fear or favour, those involved in the numerous financial scandals would have been brought to justice.