Consider this irony: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced on Sunday that a list of names for the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on a former attorney-general will be submitted to the Agong soon.
This was less than a week after he was inexplicably given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on 47 corruption and related charges.
Malaysiakini reported that Zahid said the name list will be tabled by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said (above, left) to the cabinet.
“I feel that the minister of law and institutional reform should submit a name list to the cabinet to get the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for this RCI to speed up their work,” he said.
Given the rather strange circumstances of his own case where a deputy public prosecutor asked for the withdrawal of the charges against him, would it not be more appropriate, urgent, and relevant to form an RCI to investigate why this has happened instead of probing Thomas’ (above) book?
And also investigate the other instances of withdrawals of prosecution, poor or non-existent appeals, and discharges of those accused of corruption, money laundering, and related charges.
Many of them are from the most corrupt political party this country has ever seen - Umno Baru.
Examples include key members of Umno such as its former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, current Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan, former Sabah deputy chief minister Bung Moktar Radin, Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Isa Samad, former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman, and Zahid himself on other charges involving foreign visa system.
For an excellent explanation of many of these cases and the ongoing controversies over DNAAs and other discharges, watch Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the video series by lawyer GK Ganeson.
On top of this, the appeal by the prosecution against the dismissal of charges against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy was turned down Tuesday because of an unexplainable lapse by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) of not filing the appeal on time.
Surely, instead of investigating a small aspect of a memoir where former AG Tommy Thomas supposedly discussed with the then-prime minister the appointment of judges, these latest developments are more serious in nature and more deserving of an investigation by an RCI.
After all, the AG has an advisory role to the government and the prime minister under the Federal Constitution.
Probe Azalina
It was under Thomas’ tenure as AG from 2018 to 2020 that a plethora of cases were investigated, not by Thomas but by the enforcement agencies, and then prosecuted by the AG’s office headed by Thomas who played an exemplary role in bringing them to justice.
Najib, who Zahid’s Umno wants to be freed, now languishes in jail as a result.
An RCI should first investigate if Azalina was conflicted when she pushed for the formation of the RCI to investigate Thomas’ book.
This is because Azalina is from Umno and served in Najib’s cabinet. She may therefore support any move which will cast aspersions on Najib’s trial and conviction.
The situation of other Umno politicians, some of whom have been DNAA-ed, some had charges withdrawn by the AG, and some had cases dismissed, will pose similar conflicts for Azalina who as law minister could influence policy and decisions here.
With such conflicts present, it is indeed a rather surprising and questionable decision that Azalina of all people was chosen by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to be in charge of law and institutional reform.
This position should not have been held by an Umno politician given the number of cases of corruption and other charges Umno politicians are facing.
Both the current AG and his predecessor should be investigated by an RCI to explain how they came to this decision to ask for DNAAs when the cases were so long advanced and when there was so much time available to investigate further.
There is a clear need to establish that there was absolutely no political interference in the decisions taken. This can only be ascertained by an impartial and exhaustive investigation.
Under current circumstances, a well-chosen RCI is the best way forward either to establish culpability or to rule it out.
Otherwise, the public is likely to remain highly sceptical of the reasons given for questionable actions by the AG’s chambers and the minister in charge. - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM says for justice to be done and seen to be done, someone needs to watch over the independence and integrity of the judicial system. Right now, no one seems to be.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.