1988 judicial crisis - 'gov't should apologise, not individuals'

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim believes that it is the BN government that must apologise to those victimised in the 1988 judicial crisis and not former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“An apology must come from the government of that day. It was an action of the government, not an individual,” Zaid told Malaysiakini.

He said this when asked to comment on the call by several quarters for Mahathir to apologise over the crisis which had occurred during his time as prime minister.

Asked whether it was fair for Mahathir to absolve himself of any responsibility, Zaid said it was not a case of whether Mahathir took responsibility or not.

“Because it was the BN government that was responsible,” he insisted.

Zaid refused to pin any blame on Mahathir, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the time Sultan Iskandar Sultan Ismail of Johor or former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman and instead said that “we should move on”.

The former Umno minister, however, believes that the BN government will never apologise over the crisis.

“(Prime minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) as deputy prime minister was the most vocal opposition to my apology proposal. Ironically, Najib is now the darling of the judiciary.

“But an apology is not to find fault or to blame anyone. It’s an act of reconciliation and humility so the nation can move forward,” he said.

Mahathir on Wednesday reiterated that he did not order for then lord president Salleh Abas to be sacked which triggered the judicial crisis.

While Mahathir blamed Abu Talib for using his name to sack Salleh, the former attorney-general has said that Mahathir was not responsible for Salleh’s removal and was merely complying with the command of the then Agong.

In 1988, a special tribunal was convened to try Salleh on charges of misconduct and for questioning constitutional amendments that seriously eroded the powers of the judiciary. Salleh was subsequently sacked.

Supreme Court judges George Seah and Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh - who had ruled that Salleh's tribunal was convened unconstitutionally - were also sacked after being found guilty of misconduct by another tribunal.

Three other judges - Azmi Kamaruddin, Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh - were suspended.

Some described the dismissal of the top judges from the Supreme Court - then the highest court, now renamed the Federal Court - as the Malaysian judiciary's darkest hours.

Right after his appointment as law minister in 2008, Zaid had urged the government to apologise to Salleh and the other judges affected by the incident.

Then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi later announced ex-gratia payments to the six judges but held firm to the stance that the government would not apologise for the incident.- Mkini