Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other Pakatan leaders hold a news conference in Kuala Lumpur May 11, 2018. — Picture by Azneal Ishak

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Wasting no time at all on his first day back in office, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced today full investigations on the Attorney-General (AG), the Election Commission (EC), and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for suspected misconduct.

He accused AG Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali to have broken the law by hiding evidence on the alleged misappropriation of funds in sovereign investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

“We have to look into who the AG is. At the moment the AG has undermined his own credibility.

“He has hidden evidence of wrongdoings and that is wrong in law. We have to do what is permitted by the laws of this country,” the 92-year-old who is back as the country’s seventh prime minister told a news conference at the Al-Bukhary Foundation here.

He added that his team will consult “administrators and the lawyers” to find out what it can do next following the rule of law.

Dr Mahathir who was sworn in just last night said he will also evaluate the MACC’s performance for transparency.

“We will study whether the MACC is fair or not. If we find that they are biased, or in favour of any group including ourself, we would have to change them,” he said.

Also under investigation is EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah.

“If we find out that he is involved in corrupt practices, biased and all that, we would have to take action against him,” the prime minister said.

“Our intention is to go for people who showed a tendency to be corrupt, or who have committed corruption,” he added.

When asked if this included Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, the former inspector-general of police who oversaw the bulk of the investigation into 1MDB, he said this would be so if there was adequate evidence.

The Pakatan Harapan chairman promised that appointments of the heads of government institutions will go through Parliament from now on.