It's Dr Mahathir who should apologise, says Karpal

KUALA LUMPUR: It is not the present federal administration but former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who should apologise to the victims of the 1998 judicial crisis.

This is the view of veteran lawyer and DAP national chairman Karpal Singh when responding to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim's statement that the federal government must make an open apology to those victimised during the crisis, which led to the sacking of the then lord president Tun Salleh Abbas and Supreme Court judges Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah.

"It is not the present administration that convened those tribunals. It was Dr Mahathir who initiated it," said Karpal.

"Calling on the present administration to apologise is not a step in the right direction."

According to Karpal, under Article 125 (3) of the Federal Constitution, a judge cannot be removed unless a tribunal was convened at the behest of the prime minister, who advises the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to convene it.

"The prime minister who advised the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong was Dr Mahathir," he said.

Karpal also called on the king to set up a royal commission of inquiry, whose terms of reference should be to decide if the tribunals were set up on sufficient basis and grounds.

The royal commission of inquiry, he said, would establish whether there was "misconduct on the part of Dr Mahathir" and if there was any abuse of the Federal Constitution.

When questioned on the readiness of the Bar Council in welcoming an apology, Karpal said the council did not look at the statement in depth.

Karpal also said Zaid did not have the credibility to speak on issues affecting the legal fraternity.

"He should not have been brought into the cabinet through the backdoor via the senate," he said.

On the issue of party hopping, Karpal said the DAP was calling on the prime minister to publicly announce whether the government was prepared to move an amendment to the Federal Constitution to outlaw party-hopping.

He said the DAP would fully support the government if the amendment was initiated.

Karpal also criticised PPP president Datuk M. Kayveas who blamed the Barisan Nasional chairman and deputy chairman as responsible for the coalition's dismal performance in the recent general election.

Danutcha Chelliah
NST