Why so quiet about task force report, Asyraf asks PH, PN

 

A special task force into the memoir of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas has raised questions about the appointment of judges.

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional leaders have come under fire for their silence on a government panel’s findings about the memoir of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas.

Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said yesterday no key leaders of PH or PN had expressed their stance although several days had passed since the report was made public.

“They do not dare to condemn any of Thomas’ allegations which have damaged the country’s institutions of justice,” said Asyraf in a Facebook post.

He said the Thomas memoir had affected the image of the judiciary, and questioned what foreigners and the general public would make of the claims in the book such as top judges allegedly being appointed due to political pressure.

He accused PH of hypocrisy in claiming to be fighting for judicial independence.

It was the Barisan Nasional government of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that set up the Judicial Appointments Commission in 2009, he said, but in the PH government the appointment of judges had been determined by the attorney-general and the prime minister “who, of course, have their own interests”.

“Umno always admits to, and improves on, mistakes – even if they were made by leaders who have left the party. But PH and PN seem to be very hypocritical and selective,” he said.

The declassified findings of the task force on Friday had said that Thomas, as attorney-general, had wanted then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad “to do his bidding in a manner contrary to the law” in appointing three lawyers as Court of Appeal judges.

Separately, Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan told New Straits Times the report’s findings had unearthed the PH government’s misconduct when it was in power.

The report said Thomas had “powerful vested interests” in the appointment of judges, and that his move to approach Mahathir was an “attempt to use political or executive influence” to see the proposed appointments come to pass.

Thomas’ book, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, was published in January last year. A special task force was formed to investigate allegations about the judiciary, exposure of government secrets, abuse of power, professional negligence and seditious statements.

In September, the Prime Minister’s Office revealed that Thomas was to be investigated for sedition and various other offences as recommended in the task force report. - FMT