PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar said as long as the controversial amendment made to Article 121 of the Federal Constitution was not reviewed, the judiciary would continue to be subservient to the executive.
"The failure to return this cardinal principle in the country's institution of judiciary would result in continued fear among judges of the executive powers," the Pokok Sena member of parliament told Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
According to Mahfuz, the climate of fear among judges could still be felt.
"If this is the case, these judges are better off judging a bird singing contest," quipped Mahfuz in his trademark humour.
Earlier, former chief justice Mohd Dzaidin Abdulah accused former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad of causing the courts in the country to be subservient to political leaders, pointing out to the latter's controversial amendment to Article 121(1) in 1988.
This was followed by an admission by minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz of the judiciary's loss of independence during Mahathir's tenure.
Mahfuz said in order to empower the country's judges, Article 121 should be restored.
"This provision is crucial for the separation of powers," he added, and described the so-called judicial reforms as 'cosmetic'.
Critics have pointed out that the 1988 amendment removed the phrase “the judicial power of the Federation shall be vested in two High Courts” from Article 121, which gave judicial power of the federation to the judiciary.
Dr Mahathir had however strongly denied the claims, saying judiciary remained independent with or without the amendment.
-harakahdaily
Many non-Malays complain that the government sector has employed far too many Malays. It denies government sector job opportunities to non-Malays. UMNO is responsible. We need an understanding among the various people power groups. The self-interest people power groups should conspire to avoid dealing with UMNO.
ReplyDeleteThe "special rights" of Malays do exist or do not exist. Is Article 153 of the Malaysian constitution defunct or operational? We need a Race Relations Act similar to the one in UK. We need an Act similar to Equality Act 2010(UK). All human beings are equal; there is nobody with "special rights". We may have something to learn from EU Equal Treatment Directives.
Britain has to hold herself responsible for abandoning the non-Muslims to the mercy of UMNO/Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. East Timor/Portuguese Timor or Timor Liste required United Nations intervention for her to get independence from Indonesia. The non-Muslims of Malaysia should urge Britain to discuss the plight of the non-Muslims of Malaysia with the permanent members of the UN Security Council(UNSC) and India. Please inform Dr.Jeffry Kitingan that he must get the support of the permanent members of the UNSC (and India) if he ever dreams of a better deal for Sabah. He must understand that there are similarities between Sabah and Timor Liste. Dr.Jeffry Kitingan must hold the British responsible for abandoning Sabah to the mercy of UMNO/Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. With the rise of China and India, the balance of power will shift.
Please pass the word around to all Hindu Malaysians to keep an eye on Dr.Jeffry Kitingan at the political level. Dr.Jeffry Kitingan is a Christian and therefore all Christian Malaysians should be supportive of him. Either the Federal government put Malaysia first or they allow Sabah to secede. That's it. Please feel free to copy and re-mail this composition to anybody. Those who receive this composition should re-mail it to others. Simply reading my posting and ignoring it will not help. Please read my posting and re-mail it to whoever it may concern.
Please remember that no government in this world has money. The money in the coffers is people's money. The citizens own the money in the coffers. The citizens have a say in how the money in the coffers is used. UMNO/Article 153 will be remembered for arbitrary usage of the money in the coffers.
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