PROVE MAHATHIR WRONG - START THE PROCESS WITH A ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE 1988 JUDICIAL CRISIS!

August 31, 2006 on 7:10 pm | In General |

(Original posted on 26 August 2006  10:24pm)

PROVE MAHATHIR WRONG - START THE PROCESS WITH A ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE 1988 JUDICIAL CRISIS!

Malaysians of all walks of life are certainly ‘shamefully amused’ to hear the claims of former premier, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who among other claims, today, denies he had shackled the judiciary!

Either the former premier suffers from “selective amnesia” or in his ‘haste and arrogance’ to dislodge the present premier, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he is conveniently forgetting that in his tenure of more than 22 years, Malaysia and Malaysians had seen an abuse and rape of the country’s coffers, of cronyism, nepotism, corporate scandals and the eroding of natural justice that made Malaysia a laughing stalk in the civilized world!

But, thanks to the leadership of both Premier Abdullah and his deputy Najib, attempts are now being made to undo many a past wrong and circumvent the nation in the stream of accountability, transparency and good governance!

But the pertinent question remains how far will this man go to bring down Abdullah?

He has already lost any resemblance of credibility when he shamelessly denied the undeniable - his role in Operasi Lalang in the 80’s.

An operation that was put into place to assure he would not be politically challenged but that attempt crippled and crushed democracy in Malaysia to the fullest!

It is indeed a joke that this same man - the mastermind and architect of that infamous covert operation that was initiated to secure his political dominance and survival and cripple democracy preaches what he had not practiced in his tenure of over 22 years - democracy!

The same man who had a record of contempt for lawyers and the law today however speaks as if he is a monument of justice, truth and fair play!

And this is why, it is pertinent that the present government re-examine several matters pertaining to morality, ethics, accountability, due diligence, transparency and accountability during the former premier’s tenure and among them, the alleged “shackling of the judiciary” and the 1988 judicial crisis!

The Malaysian judiciary we are told ’has never recovered’ from that drastic and strategic blow to date despite repeated assurance from many, which includes people on the bench.

In 1988 and afterwards, many decent individuals who were prominent judges suffered as a result of a “political decision!”

The reexamination of the 1988 crisis will be a painful process but the truth must be told and those who suffered the fate of a sacking be accorded natural justice and dignity!

The country is at a cross roads!

One man who thinks he knows the ‘psyche and the political mind of the Malay’ thinks the government of the day does not have the political will, guts and boldness to reveal the 1988 episode.

The government must prove him wrong!

We must start the ‘healing process’ with a Royal Commission on the 1988 Judicial Crisis!