Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz announced yesterday that three senior ministers have been appointed to study the three-man Haidar Panel report on the Lingam Tape on the perversion of the course of justice on fixing of judicial appointments and court judgments.

Nazri said that the three Ministers, i.e. Home Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Culture and Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim and he himself, were given the task by the Cabinet due to their legal background and because all three had been in charge of law affairs in their ministerial portfolios and to make recommendations on the appropriate action to be taken at the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The Cabinet had also decided that each minister be given a copy of the report.

Two questions immediately come to mind.

Firstly, why wasn’t the Haider Report made public immediately? Why must Cabinet Ministers read the Haider Report first, to find out whether it is good or bad for the government, before deciding whether it should be made public?

We should follow the best international practices of countries which fully practice accountability, transparency and integrity where such inquiry reports, whether by Royal Commission or inquiry committees, are made public at the same time they are submitted to the appointing authorities — to show that the government has nothing to hide, regardless of the findings.

Secondly, why should there be another three-man Ministerial Committee to study the Report of the three-man Haider Panel on the Lingam Tape? One does not need to have any legal background or experience in Cabinet in charge of law affairs to decide what is right and proper to be done on a question of accountability, transparency and integrity, not only about the Lingam Tape revelations about the perversion of the course of justice on fixing of judicial appointments and judicial decisions but the urgent need for judicial reforms.

The New Straits Times today reported that the three-man Haider Panel into “Lingamgate” have all agreed that a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be established to investigate although they have submitted separate reports.

This follows the “scoop” by Sin Chew Daily yesterday that the three panel members have separately recommended a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Why then is the Prime Minister and the Cabinet dragging their feet in immediately announcing agreement in principle to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry, unless they have things to hide?

I suggest that the three ministers of the Nazri Committee to study the Report of the three-man Haider Panel as well as all Cabinet Ministers should be given a copy of Rais Yatim’s 1995 book “Freedom under Executive Power in Malaysia — A Study of Executive Supremacy” to understand why the foot-dragging for judicial reforms must end with a Royal Commission of Inquiry to restore independence and integrity of judiciary.

Let me quote three passages from Rais Yatim’s book:

“Since merdeka the judiciary had by and large enjoyed its share of independence and none of the previous three Prime Ministers, who had incidentally received their legal training in England, as much as nudged the judiciary let alone ‘assaulted’ it in Parliament as did Dr. Mahathir.” (page 302 – 7.2)

“The period 1986-1989 could perhaps be summarised to be the finest hour of the Malaysian Judiciary for it was during this short period that it handed down those few judgements that gave freedom a boost. These judgements did not go down well with the Prime Minister. His dissatisfaction with the judiciary came into sharp focus when he was clearly stung by the various decisions of the court.” (p. 313 – 7.2)

“Since the dismissals of the three Supreme Court judges in 1988, the government has not taken steps to restore confidence in the Malaysian judiciary. Instead, key judicial posts have been filled by judges who participated in the government’s administrative actions against the judges. Recent legislation has eliminated judicial review of important national security legislation. The government has been openly critical of the Malaysian Bar Council, which has sought to defend judicial independence in Malaysia. This criticism, in conjunction with a recent action for contempt of court against the Secretary of the Bar Council, indicates a continued willingness to maintain pressure against the judiciary and those who seek to defend it.”

National and international confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary have suffered from one crisis to another since Rais’ book, culminating in the latest LingamGate.

This should be the finest hour of the Cabinet Ministers to prove that they are not “half-past six” and are capable of doing the greatest service to the nation by establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry with full and untrammeled powers to delve into the deep-seated causes for the decline and fall of the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary in the past two decades and to make recommendations to re-establish a world-class judiciary as an important element of Malaysia’s international competitiveness to face the challenges of globalization.