KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — The federal opposition will appeal the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s decision to reject its motion seeking Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali’s removal, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today.

The Opposition Leader said Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia’s two reasons for rejecting the bid — that the motion was unconstitutional and that Parliament has no power to remove the AG — were inaccurate and indicative of the Speaker’s purported “misinterpretation” of the motion.

“I am forced to say that the Speaker’s decision was very disappointing because he should allow this issue which involved public funds, the prime minister’s reputation and the image of the country to be debated in the Dewan Rakyat on the principles of parliamentary democracy and the parliamentary reform that Pandikar himself seeks,” she told a press conference at the Dewan Rakyat lobby today.

Dr Wan Azizah also said that the Speaker’s decision undermined the role of Parliament as an impartial institution.

“This decision further weakens the Parliament’s function as a free institution,” the Permatang Pauh MP said.

She also announced that for now, the opposition does not plan to table a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament, pointing out that the Speaker blocked the previous attempt.

“We have done it before but you all know what happened to that. Not for now, maybe later,” she said, repeating her statement yesterday that a motion might be put in after the Sarawak elections.