The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is setting a bad and dangerous precedent in publicly pressurizing the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail to charge DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh for sedition and turn a legal issue into a political and racial one.
This is the first time in 50 years that a Prime Minister had so flagrantly and blatantly put public pressure on the Attorney-General to prosecute an Opposition leader, making a total mockery of the absolute discretion of the Attorney-General as entrenched in Article 145(3) of the Constitution “to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah Court, a native court or a court-martial”.
On Thursday, Abdullah said he had instructed Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to lodge a police report against Karpal for making allegedly seditious remarks about the Sultan of Perak when Karpal had reiterated publicly that he had not questioned Sultan Azlan Shah’s prerogatives as the state’s head of religion of Islam.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister has upped the ante by publicly demanding that the Attorney-General speed up the probe against Karpal.
Abdullah has never shown interest or concern as Prime Minister about high-profile cases, whether police reports previously made against Cabinet Ministers or recently against Umno for the series of seditious conduct against the Malay Rulers after the March 8 general election over the appointment of the Terengganu Mentri Besar.
Abdullah should have used his high office to end the controversy which arose from the distortion of Karpal’s raising of a legal principle established by the case of Federal Territory Education Director and others vs Loot Ting Yee about the transfer of federal and state civil servants into a challenge of the prerogative of Sultan Azlan Shah over matters pertaining to Islam and Malay custom.
The country is trying to come out of the “judicial darkness” which it had been plunged into for two decades as a result of the series of crises of confidence and credibility in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the system of justice – not just about the judiciary but also other important players especially the Attorney-General.
The Prime Minister’s public and persistent demand for action to be taken against Karpal by the Attorney-General does not create confidence that the present administration is fully committed to end the two-decade-long “judicial darkness” in the country by allowing all the major stakeholders in the system of justice their full and unfettered independence and impartiality – whether judges or the Attorney-General.
#1 by Jong on Wednesday, 14 May 2008 - 3:26 pm
I hope that “skirt chaser” reads this article. :D
#2 by KS R on Thursday, 15 May 2008 - 1:17 am
When is the DAP,PKR and PAS taking over the Goverment. Sometime majority sick and fed up of this fellows. After taking over they should vice versa. All PKR should stand behind Tiger Karpal and support him.
#3 by andylim on Thursday, 15 May 2008 - 8:21 pm
Pm and his so called honest minister make news everyday..they insult disable,insult royal,insult begger minister,used media to incited racial tension.if pr won federal ,this kind of unfair,bullied and cruel minister will dissapear.
#4 by shamshul anuar on Friday, 16 May 2008 - 12:18 am
Dear Readers,
I am amused and at the same time sad that the supposedly intelligent discussions have beed reduced to name calling. Cant we do better than that. No need to insult. Just criticize.
With regards to comment by Karpal on the jurisdiction of Sultan of Perak, I personnally believe that it is rather coarse. Karpal as we all know has a penchant of mocking politicians from the other divide in the august Parliament.
There is a certain decorum that expected to be maintained in the presence of a Sultan. Here lies the blunder by Karpal Singh. He, from the views of vast section of Malays , insulted the Sultan of Perak by implying that the Ruler made a mistake that no former Lord President should ever make.
Different people took it differently. Malays who are fond of monarch system are upset. There is nothing racial about it. And it is wrong to imply that UMNO intentionally whip the sentiment. The sentiment is real. From what I notice, non Malays do not seem to understand the fuss about Karpal said.
They do not understand why such a statement can be construed as seditious. Malays interpret the issue from a different angle. Malays hold royalty with high regards. They are as what Dr Mahathir said in Malay Dillema as the “last vestige of Old Malaya”.
That does not mean that that royalty cant be criticized. Even Prophet Muhammad was criticized no less by Allah and clearly written in Kuran.
My point is that Karpal is seen as insulting the Sultan and the revered institution by Malays. This incident also put PKR and PAS into a delicate situation. Call it immature or childish, but Malay community finds that thir silence as disturbing. Hence, come the remark I overheard ” Macam ni ke jadi Kerajaan. Belum apa-apa lagi dah biarkan Karpal hina Raja-raja”.
As for appointment of Menteri Besar of Trengganu, initially UMNO insisted on Idris as the candidate for the post. And I believe PM is right in this matter. But UMNO was in a difficult position. its insistence on Idris Jusoh was construed as an afront to the Sultan of Trengganu. No Malay politician would want to be seen as rude to the Sultan. That explain why UMNo relented and agreed to the Sultan’s choice.