“To Mahathir, your celebration is a sham; … your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery….
In any Westminster-styled democracy, a country’s administration consists of three main machinations, namely, the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary. The Legislative makes laws. The Executive runs the country. Lastly, but by no means the least, the Judiciary adjudicates disputes and determines them.
The Judiciary does not only adjudicate disputes amongst private
citizens but also, more importantly, disputes between the citizens and
the Executive (the government). In a branch of law called
“administrative law”, the Judiciary inherently has the power to issue
four kinds of orders against the Executive. These are traditional
judicial powers which are paramount towards ensuring that rules of law
are complied with not only by the people but also by the Executive.
Firstly, the Court may issue a certiorari order to quash any decision of the Executive. Secondly, an order of prohibition may be issued to restrain the Executive from doing any act. These two orders are usually issued if the act complained of is illegal, improper or made without power (ultra vires). Thirdly, the Court may issue an order of mandamus to compel the Executive to do certain act. Fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, a writ of habeas corpus, may be issued by the Court to compel the government to produce and free anybody who is improperly detained.
These are the traditional powers of the Judiciary. They exist for hundreds of years and have throughout the years been refined in order to keep up with the demands of modern governance.
Prior to 10th June 1988, Article 121 of our Federal Constitution provides:
“Subject to clause (2), the judicial power of the Federation shall be vested in two High Courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction and status.”
Judicial powers are powers “which every sovereign authority must have to decide controversies between its subjects, or between itself and its subjects, whether the rights relate to life, liberty, or property.[1]” For a democracy to work, the Judiciary must, as of right, be possessed of these powers. Otherwise, the so-called democracy is no more a democracy, where rights, freedom and liberty cannot be adjudicated and determined by an independent Judiciary possessed with the necessary powers to do so.
Tun Dr Mahathir was full of respect for our Judiciary. At the Asean Law Association General Assembly on 26th October 1982, he was reported as saying:
“I will always respect the Judiciary. We do not expect the courts to be pro or anti Government, only pro the Constitution and pro the law. The Government always considers the Constitution and the law carefully before we do anything so we expect the Judiciary to be free to judge our alleged trespasses without fear or favour, but in accordance with the law, in accordance with the law of evidence and procedure justly and fairly. We shall always respect their judgments…”
His loving relationship with the Judiciary however lasted slightly longer than Katy Perry’s marriage to Russell Brand.
When the Courts made several decisions against the government, particularly in the Berthelsen’s case – where the Court held the government’s cancellation of a journalist work permit was unlawful – he became displeased. This was followed by the High Court’s decision to issue a habeas corpus writ for the release of Karpal Singh from a detention. In the midst of it all, Justice Harun Hashim declared UMNO illegal and dissolved the party.
Tun quickly forgot what he said in 1982. He then viewed that the Judiciary was trying to take over the administration of Malaysia from his government.
Tun Dr Mahathir was reported in the 24 November 1986 issue of Time magazine, as saying:
“The Judiciary says , ‘Although you passed a law with certain thing in mind, we think that your mind is wrong , and we want to give our interpretation.’ If we disagree, the courts say, ‘We will interpret your disagreement.’ If we go along, we are going to lose our power of legislation. We know exactly what we want to do, but once we do it, it is interpreted in a different way, and we have no means to interpret it our way. If we find that a court always throws us out on its own interpretation, if it interprets contrary to why we made the law, then we will have to find a way of producing a law that will have to be interpreted according to our wish.”
He then moved the Parliament in 1998 to amend Article 121 of our Constitution. Now, it is stated that the Courts will only have judicial powers “as may be conferred by or under Federal law.” That means Malaysia is the only Commonwealth country whose Courts do not have judicial powers unless the Legislative says so.
On 18th March 1988, in moving for the above amendment, Tun Dr mahathir said in the Parliament:
“… to achieve a balance the country needed a civil service and Judiciary which did not involve itself in politics…But unfortunately lately we find incidents where some members of the Judiciary are involved in politics…By possessing qualities termed as ‘fiercely independent’, these members are indirectly involved with ‘opposition politics’. And to display that their independence is really ‘fierce’ they often bend over backwards to award decisions in favour of those challenging the Government.”
With the amendment passed, the Courts quickly became impotent and subservient to the Legislative. Unfortunately too, members of the Legislative are also members of the Executive. That put paid to any semblance of a checks and balance mechanism between the powers that be and the Judiciary.
When the people have legal disputes, where else do they go but the Courts? However, with the 1998 amendment, the Courts are powerless to assist in more than many instances.
The present administration has pledged transformation. Socially, promises have been made to review and even repeal draconian laws such as the ISA, Printing Presses and Publication Act; Police Act and many others. That is to be lauded.
Any national transformation however would not, in my humble opinion, be complete until and unless the position of the Judiciary be restored to its rightful position. It is humbly urged that the present administration look into re-amending Article 121 of the Federal Constitution to its former position.
the chanting of the prosecutor’s fraudulent funeral rites, but its
restless spirit keeps rattling through the haunted house of the UMNO
Party’s premier family. The latest rattle, in which the shocking
revelations that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor
were involved in hatching sodomy accusations against Opposition Leader
Anwar Ibrahim Ghani Patail has the chance to go down in his nation’s
history as either a colossal waste of a promise, or as the exorcist who
rid Malaysia of the ghost of all the ghost ., the then chief minister
of Malacca, Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, was reported to have raped a
15-year-old schoolgirl (under Malaysian law, sex with a minor
constitutes statutory rape). Lim Guan Eng, currently the chief minister
of Penang and the then MP for Kota Melaka, spoke out against the rape of
a minor after the girl’s .grandmother-cum-guardian, who was also Lim’s
constituent, turned to him for help.
Who is Wong Kian Kheong (WKK)?
To understand how a small private matter of no consequence to the
public can end up being a prosecution case, albeit by way of a private
prosecution, one has to understand the players behind the Daphne Iking’s
case. It was reported that Wong Kian Kheong (WKK as how he is known in
legal circles) is leading the prosecution team. Who is this WKK?
WKK
was once a Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) and is a blue eyed boy of A-G
Gani Patail. There are a lot of rumours in legal circles about WKK’s
closeness to A-G Gani Patail, not less that if you want things done with
A-G Chambers, go to see WKK. This rumour may be fuelled by the fact
that WKK runs a flourishing criminal practice in very posh offices. But
that rumour could just be pure jealousy and business rivalry. Then
again, WKK has achieved amazing things that many criminal lawyers could
not do. One example frequently given is the fact that WKK was the lawyer
who defended Razak Baginda
Malaysians could not possibly forget the Altantuya murder case, the
Mongolian beauty who was C4ed and blown to pieces. The main culprit in
that case, Razak Baginda was acquitted
without his defence being called, while the special forces policemen, two Unit Tindakan Khas(UTK) officers(right) were convicted and sentenced to death.
without his defence being called, while the special forces policemen, two Unit Tindakan Khas(UTK) officers(right) were convicted and sentenced to death.
Razak Baginda was the close aide and adviser of PM Najib when Najib
was the country’s Defence Minister. Altantuya and Razak Baginda were
linked to Najib in the Scorpene Submarine Scandal that to this day still
stained and haunts PM Najib’s premiership. MINDEF has taken steps to
can any story on the Scorpene submarines that could not submerge and
stay underwater.
WKK’s handling of Razak Baginda’s defence in the Altantuya murder
case became controversial from the very beginning when Razak Baginda
managed to get bail despite facing a murder charge. In an unprecedented
step, WKK later filed a highly controversial affidavit in which
explosive revelations were made, pointing the murderers to be two UTK
officers, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar.
Eventually, these two UTK officers were found guilty of kidnapping and
killing Altantuya while Razak Baginda was acquitted.
Upon his acquittal, Razak Baginda immediately announced that he was
leaving the country to pursue further studies. That was a really absurd
excuse for making an escape. Scholarship holders would tell you that if
you default or dispute a PTPTN study loan, the Immigration Department
would not hesitate to impound your passport and bar you from leaving the
country. Here, a man summarily acquitted for murder while there could
be an appeal, was allowed to leave the country. That was the greatest
escapade aided and abetted by the A-G Chambers and the Immigration
Department!
As a fait accompli, A-G Gani Patail announced that he, as the
Public Prosecutor, would not be appealing against Razak Baginda’s
acquittal. The A-G gave the excuse that he respected the court’s
finding of fact to acquit Razak and thus would not pursue the case any
further. This was clearly a travesty of justice!
Time Magazine has honoured our very own Anwar Ibrahim by recognising
him as one of the worlds most influential people of 2007. The criteria
for selection is not merely people with power. Rather, as Time Editor
Richard Strengel explains:
Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in. Influence is less about the hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example. Yes there are Presidents and dictators who can change the world through fiat, but we’re more interested in innovators like
Monty Jones, the Sierra Leone scientist who has developed a strain of rice that can save African agriculture. Or heroes like the great chessmaster Garry Kasparov, who is leading the lonely fight for greater democracy in Russia. Or Academy Award winning actor George Clooney who has leveraged his celebrity to bring attention to the tragedy in Darfur
I believe our leader Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the first Malaysian to be given this singular honour. I am proud of him and proud to be associated with him. More great things to come I am sure.
Dr Mahathir seems unable to let go of the fact that he isn’t PM of
Malaysia anymore. He plays the eternal busybody, offering unsolicited
advice. He employs sophistry of reasons to convince people of his biased
conclusions. So, he says almost sage-like that Malaysia will be in dire
straits if Pakatan takes over. But the age of unidirectional reasoning
is over. Previously he had help from the media industrial complex — TV
and mainstream newspapers. That isn’t going to happen anymore.
No right-thinking person wants to read Utusex Malaysia where only
reports on prayer times and the 4-digit lottery are true; readership of
the NST has gone down because, as Lee Kuan Yew observed, the paper has
lost credibility. People are turned off at watching TV3 because as soon
as we switch it on we see the apparitions of Ustazah Ummi Hafilda
berating Anwar; we see Hasan “membetulkan aqidah” Ali and all the other
lost souls picked up ravenously by talent-starved Umno and now dancing
to the tune the paying pied piper plays.
Now, the people can talk and reason back. What Mahathir says is no longer accepted unquestioningly.
What does Mahathir want? What can he do if people don’t believe what
the government says and are willing to accept Anwar — warts and all? If
the people have been willing to accept the degenerates in Umno as
leaders, why can’t they try out Anwar? Of course Mahathir believes Anwar
will never make it to Putrajaya.
What he actually desire is for Mahathirism to be translated
correctly, which Najib isn’t doing properly. Najib is sloppily relying
heavily on others to do the thinking for him. Mahathirism needs a man of
sterner stuff. Mahathir does not believe Najib has got what it takes to
implement the doctrine of Mahathirism.
Mahathirism in politics means the concentration of power in the chief
executive (the PM) and the emasculation of all other contending forces —
the judiciary and the civil service. Mahathirsim needs ISA. Mahathirism
needs a yielding judiciary. Mahathirism needs a pliant civil service
headed by a sycophant. Najib seems to get only that part right in Ali
Hamsa.
Mahathirism in economics means the economics of cronyism. Since 1981,
the economics by organic growth was replaced by the economics of
choosing and picking winners. But Mahathir chose from a restricted
talent pool consisting of those he knows or those recommended by close
associates such as Tun Daim. The strategy has been proven wrong. Malay
share in the economy is just under 20 per cent. But those who got picked
and chosen got rich beyond imagination. The general Malay public
remained condemned to be dependents of the government. Umno runs a
paternalistic and, at times, bullying government.
Mahathir is preparing the ground for the inevitable ouster of Najib.
He’s getting help from the chief auctioneer of Malaysia, Muhyiddin
Yassin who has sold whatever available land there was in Johor when he
was MB there. The other fellow waiting in the wings is Mukhriz Mahathir
who will team up with Muhyiddin.
For the time being, Najib has no choice but to ape what Mahathir
says. The country has no future under any government but Umno-BN. So
Najib continues to crisscross the country airing slogans loudly. When
hosting the thousands of Umno members transported to Stadium Bukit
Jalil, Najib announced that he felt so uplifted that he was thinking of
meeting up with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to call for elections then.
But that was only loud noises coming from a nervous PM. The ground, as
Tun Daim told the personal emissary of Najib, Jamaluddin Jarjis, is not
ready to support Umno-BN. But Najib is confident, said JJ. We have
reports saying that the ground is supportive of Najib and look at his
personal rating.
So the chief political seer in this country retorted by asking JJ:
can you believe all those reports? If they are prepared by that
eager-to-please-his-master Rais Yatim, then you are dead. Rais will
inflate BN chances by 50 per cent and downplay Pakatan chances by 30 per
cent. You are going to decide on flimsy foundations. Hence Najib has to
postpone the elections that he wanted to hold in June 2012.
In Malacca, he played football pundit by boasting that Umno-BN will
win 14-0. If that is so, Najib would have declared elections yesterday.
Najib knows the unity which Umno pretends it has will disintegrate by 30
per cent the very day Najib announces the BN candidates for GE13. So
how to face elections with a house divided? He does what a desperate man
will do.
The Umno foot soldiers are fatigued. They have waited eagerly for
elections. Elections for them are a huge festival where loads of money
will be poured indiscriminately. How to continue paying for the Myvi and
the Kris motorcycle which they have ordered now that Najib is
flip-flopping in announcing the election date?
Umno people know this is the last chance to fleece the party. After
GE13, they will be taken care off better by the Pakatan government. They
are hearing good stories coming out from Pakatan-governed states and
nightmarish stories of rampant corruption and land grabs from Umno-led
states. They will join their other brethren in kicking out corrupt Umno
and BN.
They know Umno has degenerated into a party selling pirated porn VCDs
and a party that installs hidden cameras in toilets. So the next time
people go into public toilets remember to bring umbrellas to cover
yourselves. Otherwise Umno will politicise the size of your penises.
It’s that desperate.
The biggest lie that Umno hawks claim is that all other Malays not in
Umno aren’t Malays. If Malays join any other political party than Umno,
she or he ceases to be Malay. When I was in Umno, my Malay credentials
were taken for granted and never disputed. Now when I join the DAP, my
Malayness is disputed. The same person whose Malayness isn’t questioned
when in Umno now has his Malayness disputed as soon as he leaves Umno.
No Malay ceases to be one when he abandons Umno. One’s Malayness resides
in the person not in Umno. Umno need not be so arrogant. The Malay is
the person not a political party.
When both Mahathir and Najib expressed their fears about a dismal
future under Pakatan, they are actually showing their nervousness about
actually losing power. When Umno-BN loses, the myths and all the
fallacies about the policies which Umno-BN has implemented will be
exposed and along with those the role played by Mahathir and his team.
Start by asking, for example, why after so many years, the Malay
economy hasn’t achieved its target? The Malay economy that got better is
the economy for the selected Malay elite — the royalty and its scions,
the economy of Mahathir’s son. Also, the economy of the recently retired
Chief Secretary’s daughter. These are the Malays who don’t give a rat’s
ass about the other Malay economy. That’s the economy that concerns
ordinary Malays, farmers, fisherman, FELDA settlers, etc. The lot of
these people isn’t top priority for the select Malays. They are more
concerned of their own future.
Start by asking why the income disparity within the Malay communities
is highest compared to the intra-income disparity within the other
races. Because since Mahathir took over the country, policies aimed at
driving economic growth of Malays are replaced by policies of picking
winners by Mahathir. That’s when we saw the emergence and accelerated
rise of Mahathir’s golden boys. They were given licences, concessions,
monopolies and the opportunities to privatise state-owned
revenue-generating resources. They grew fabulously wealthy while the
rest of the Malays, deprived of sources of organic economic growth, grew
to become dependents, relying on the government for economic succour
No comments:
Post a Comment