IPOH: The Government should remove the “absolute power” of the Attorney-General (A-G) to decide on who should be prosecuted.
Transparency International (Malaysia) founder Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim said the decision to pursue cases in court should be left in the hands of a director of public prosecution and his advisory board of legal officers.
“This is so that a case can be thoroughly discussed among the members instead of it being left to one person to say ‘insufficient evidence’ which has been the situation today.
“This has to stop. The Government must listen because it is this institution that can drag them down,” he said at a talk entitled “Government as Trustees of Power” organised by the Perak Academy yesterday.
Tunku Abdul Aziz, who authored the book Fighting Corruption: My Mission in 2004, said there was a time when Malaysia arguably had the best and most respected judiciary in the region.
However, it had since come to the point when “lawyers could choose their judges” and companies preferred to settle their disputes outside the country, said Tunku Abdul Aziz, who is the president of the Caux Round Table Malaysia, a US-based business organisation promoting good governance.
“It is so important that the judiciary be made incorruptible. When the people do not trust the A-G and the judiciary, then you fall into this terrible situation,” he added.
He said a Cabinet minister, whose function would only be to advise the Government on constitutional matters, should hold the post of A-G.
Tunku Abdul Aziz also urged the people to act as watchdogs that both “bark and bite”.
Declaring that he was “not anti-government but only anti-corruption”, he said: “I believe that ethics really forms the foundation of good governance, without which even the best rules and procedures come to nothing.”
“Instead we compromise our institutions, our enforcement is derisory. We have no ethics at all. It has been completely eroded by 22 years of a cavalier approach to governance,” he added.
Christina Koh
Star Online
17/06/08
1 comment:
There is a difference between UMNO and Barisan Nasional. I want to make it clear that it is not the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, but the UMNO government. It is not the government, but UMNO. Barisan Nasional is a coalition of unequals, not equals. UMNO is the big brother in BN. Therefore UMNO must be held responsible; and more importantly, UMNO must not be allowed to hide behind the BN banner. UMNO is the enemy, not BN.
I have come to the conclusion that the easy solution is to completely defeat UMNO in the next elections.
In the 2004 elections (11th General Election), the voters gave good support to Mr.Abdullah Badawi. But reforms did not come. Why? Probably because UMNO had done well in the elections. If UMNO had done well in the elections, then the election results tell UMNO that the voters are satisfied with the status quo. If the voters are satisfied with UMNO, then no reforms are necessary. In the 2008 elections (12th General Elections), UMNO did not do well, but she managed to win. UMNO did lose the 2/3 majority in the Parliament, but she did win, nevertheless. Will UMNO undertake reforms now? I would not be surprised if she did not. Why should she? UMNO is still the winner in the elections; and she can plan to rise and may even succeed to rise again. So, as long as she wins, she will never undertake the reforms. So, how do the voters get the reforms that they need? The voters will get the reforms when UMNO is completely defeated in the 13th General Elections. If UMNO wins zero seats in the next elections (13th General Elections), then some other party would have to rule Malaysia. Let us call it Party B. If UMNO is completely defeated in the next elections (13th General Elections), then Party B would rule Malaysia. Would Party B undertake reforms? If Party B does not undertake reforms, then voters would know what to do.
So, the next step for Malaysians is to completely defeat UMNO in the next elections.
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