DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has questioned the appointment of Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's cabinet, since Tengku Adnan has been involved in the "Lingam-gate" affair.

As a Malaysian cabinet minister, Lim said in a statement today, Tengku Adnan must not only be clean but also be seen to be clean.

NONE"Tengku Adnan (left) was found by the Royal Commission of Inquiry to have conspired with lawyer VK Lingam and tycoon Vincent Tan in subverting the Federal Constitution by fixing the appointment of judges, so he must come clean on his role in conspiring with Lingam," Lim said.

"It is clear that despite all Najib may claim, Malaysia cannot move on from the corruption and abuses of power of the Dr Mahathir Mohamad era while men such as Tengku Adnan, who have been implicated in some of the worst abuses of that time, are appointed to high ministerial positions by Najib."

In the Lingam-gate affair that was video recorded and went viral on the Internet, the senior lawyer is heard boasting to a businessman that he could influence the appointment of judges.


RCI called for action to be taken

A five-member Royal Commission of Inquiry chaired by former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor, which investigated the matter, recommended that action be taken against Lingam, Tan, Tengku Adnan, Mahathir and former chief justices Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Eusoff Chin.

The RCI recommended that Lingam and his co-conspirators be investigated by the attorney-general under the Penal Code, the Sedition Act 1948, the Legal Profession Act 1976 and the Official Secrets Act 1972. However, no such investigation has been carried out until today.

lingam tape hearing 300108 vk lingam 02Five of them, including Tengku Adnan, tried to contest the finding of the RCI through a judicial review but the High Court rejected their application. Lingam (right) then appealed the matter, right up to the Federal Court.

The Federal Court unanimously threw out Lingam's application on Sept 13, 2011, ruling that a court of lawcannot review the findings of the RCI into the infamous video.

Lim said the RCI found Tengku Adnan, as a deputy minister, and later as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, appeared to be the "fixer" in the Prime Minister's Department in 2000, passing secret information relating to the appointment of judges to Lingam, in an apparent breach of the Official Secrets Act 1972.

"The RCI also found that Tengku Adnan's denial in his sworn testimony was "too economical with the truth to be believed". It held that Tengku Adnan had "not in the least degree" succeeded in disassociating himself from the video clip, in which his name was mentioned 11 times," Lim said.

The fact that Tengku Adnan had, as a deputy minister and minister, sworn a solemn oath to "protect, preserve and defend" the federal constitution, but got involved in a conspiracy to destroy the credibility of the institution of justice in Malaysia, raised questions on his credibility and integrity, he added.-malaysiakkini