Tun M regrets appointing Tommy Thomas as Attorney-General

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has expressed regret over appointing Tan Sri Tommy Thomas as Attorney-General, an individual who has criticised him in his memoir.

If given the opportunity to turn back time, Dr Mahathir said he would certainly not choose Tommy, instead, appoint another individual to fill the position.

"If I knew it would be like this, of course, I would appoint someone else.

“But at that time, I thought it will give a new experience to have a professional Attorney-General," said the statesman in an interview with the Free Malaysia Today portal.

Dr Mahathir also claimed that the criticism made by Thomas had something to do with the judicial crisis in 1987 which saw Tun Salleh Abas sacked as Chief Justice.

For the record, the judicial crisis occurred when Dr Mahathir became Prime Minister the first time around.

"I did not realise that Thomas still has traces of past history that still seem to affect him," said Dr Mahathir.

The former Pakatan Harapan chairman said he knew Thomas was "against him" when he became prime minister for the first time.

In the interview, Dr Mahathir also said he was expecting the Malays would be upset but still continued with the appointment.

"I thought TT (Tommy Thomas) is good, an Attorney-General who is professional and will work according to the law and not because he did what he was told to do," he added.

Dr Mahathir was commenting on Thomas’ memoir entitled "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness" where the former Attorney-General mentioned that Dr Mahathir wanted him to resign on the same day he was appointed, for fear it would anger the Malays.

In 2018, after Pakatan Harapan won the 14th General Election, Thomas was appointed as the first non-Malay Attorney-General since the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

He was also the first lawyer directly appointed to hold the post.

Last Wednesday, Dr Mahathir said he was shocked to read excerpts from the book.

"Thomas is one of the lawyers who hate me," said Dr Mahathir.