The newly appointed Law Minister, Zaid Ibrahim’s intention to issue apologies to those involved in the 1988 judicial crisis is lauded. At last, the Government is willing to take responsibilities for the cowardly acts of the then Prime Minister, Mahathir. Since that day, the judiciary has slipped into a twilight zone where the executive under the PM maintains its iron grip on the judiciary.

Why did it take so long? Did the election results finally jolt our political administrators into reality? Does this mean that finally the Government is taking the blame on behalf of Mahathir? What does Mahathir himself have to say?

Certainly more questions than answers. But the bottomline is that finally the Federal Government has realised that the integrity of the judiciary has been called into question by the meddling from the Executive arm. Removing the Judiciary from the Executive is of paramount importance if the people are expected to once again respect our judicial system.

This move will certainly earn the ruling Barisan government some brownie points. However, following up these statements with concrete measures at restructuring the judiciary will surely be the true test. Their fate in the next general election may well rest on the outcome of this apology.

Perhaps the next target should be the Anti-Corruption Agency which is currently under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department. I feel the ACA should report either to the Parliament or directly to the King. In this way, their independence can be further guaranteed and investigations can be carried out without fear or favour.

Are we finally seeing a changed Barisan Government?

ps Zaid Ibrahim has rightfully quit his law firm, Zaid Ibrahim & Co, today. See report here.
Website of Zaid Ibrahim & Co

Barisan candidates are used to the rhetoric “proven track record”. Unfortunately, their track record has been severely tainted by the manner in which they left office. With the exception of an exemplary Koh Tsu Koon, other Barisan exco members have given us enough circumstantial evidence to suspect a previously corrupt government with much to hide. Elizabeth Wong, our new Keadilan representative, has given us some clear pictures as to what has been going on behind the scenes.

Such unhonourable acts are despicable and speaks volumes on the integrity of our Barisan politicians. Why would they want to shred documents or remove important papers pertaining to the running of the state? The answer is fairly obvious to us all. The unforseen results of the latest general election has caused panic among the Barisan candidates resulting in such haste in removing possible evidences to their crimes.

For a state that has never fallen to the opposition, Selangor was among those states where the offices were devoid of important documents. The unprecedented fall of Selangor caught much of the former Barisan government off guard leaving them scrambling to wipe out their tracks almost overnight.

Sadly, our PM has remained silent. His reluctance to chastise his party members probably stems from the fact that he is all too aware of the possible repercussions if such documents were to be left to the scrutiny of “cleaner” opposition representatives. Unfortunately, by allowing such acts to take place, strips the PM of his clean image, that was heavily promoted when he took over from Dr M.

I fail to see how the PM can reverse the dismal performance of BN when he and many BN stalwarts refuse to step down despite their smeared reputations. Somehow they need a new direction, a new face that people could once again relate to. The image of Badawi and Khairy is certainly not what BN or UMNO in particular needs at the moment.