Govt will ignore Loh’s exposé, says Zaid

The former law minister says only a clean administration can ensure a clean judiciary.

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim doubts that the government will act on the recent exposé of alleged case fixing involving judges.

He told FMT today it would be out of character for the current government to heed recommendations by a commission of inquiry even if it were to set it up to probe the recent claim made by Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne.

“I don’t think the existing government will do anything to weed out corruption in the judiciary,” he said.

Last Monday, Loh released a two-minute video showing his father, Loh Mui Fah, and another person discussing a civil case and the possibility of fixing its outcome with the help of either of two judges. The names of the judges were inaudible, but the MP identified them as “J” and “W” in a transcript he provided to the press.

Loh identified the person talking to his father as the latter’s accountant.

Zaid said the BN administration lacked the political will to stop interfering in the judicial process.

Recalling the 2007 inquiry into case fixing involving lawyer VK Lingam, he said: “I had a tough time just to convince Umno to make the findings public. After it was made public, the government did not act on the matter.”

Zaid was then still the law minister and a member of Umno. The Lingam inquiry followed a similar expose by Loh and his father.

The only way to clean up the judiciary, Zaid added, was to put in place a clean government committed to justice and good governance.

He also said the best way for the judiciary to be rid of errant judges was for the government to ask them to retire.

“But for that we need a clean and strong prime minister,” he said. “Even if we have a good chief justice or inspector-general of police, it will not work without a clean government.”