In a brief statement tonight, Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh responded to criticism by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and others for a delay in a tobacco control bill being presented to Parliament.

Khairy had said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had previously signed off on the bill when it was prepared while he was health minister. He said the withdrawal of the bill for reconsideration had no legal groundings but was a political decision.

The bill would have banned smoking, and sale of tobacco products, among those born after January 1, 2007. This provision, called the generational endgame, was a key element of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill.

Terrirudin said the decoupling of the generational endgame provision from the rest of the tobacco control was done on the grounds of a double standard created for law enforcement based on age.

“The department asserts that it has consistently provided legal views since 2022 that the provisions related to GEG can be challenged in court for conflicting with Article 8 of the Federal Constitution,” the statement said.

It said the provision would create unequal legal treatment between people born before January 1, 2007, and those born on or after that date.

Article 8 of the Federal Constitution stipulates that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.

The tobacco control bill was introduced in July last year by Khairy but met resistance from several MPs. A revised bill was presented in June and subsequently referred to a parliamentary committee.

On Nov 6, the Cabinet decided to drop the GEG provision from the bill, with Terrirudin reported as having deemed the provision to be unconstitutional.

Khairy had then called out three unnamed government figures for causing setbacks to the bill.