I am taken by surprise at the Bernama report quoting the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz as saying that the names of candidates for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape and Judiciary will be tabled at tomorrow’s Cabinet.
This is because the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has given Malaysians the impression that the Cabinet tomorrow will decide on the Royal Commission’s terms of reference, while the Cabinet the following week on the composition of the Royal Commission.
Now the whole process of establishing the Royal Commission of Inquiry seems to have been telescoped, without any consultation whatsoever whether on its terms of reference or composition. This is quite ominous.
I had proposed that scholar Prince, Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr. Nazrain Shah will be a very good choice as Chairman of the Royal Commission of Inquiry to restore confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary, although the ideal candidate would be Sultan Azlan Shah especially as he was Lord President during the golden era of the Malaysian judiciary a quarter of a century ago.
I had also suggested some names formerly from the judiciary as appropriate members of the Royal Commission, namely fomer Chief Justice Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah, former Court of Appeal judges Datuk Shaikh Daud and Datuk N. H. Chan and former High Court judge and leading Malaysian jurist Datuk Seri Visu Sinnadurai.
Today, I wish to propose some names from the legal and non-legal circles who will be regarded by all sectors of Malaysian society as eminently qualified to serve on the Royal Commission which must play a critical role to restore national and interenational confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary after almost two decades of ravages and degradation, viz:
- Tunku Abdul Aziz of Transparency International fame;
- Raja Aziz Addruse — former Bar Council President;
- Datuk Param Cumaraswamy — former United Nations Special Rapportuer for independence of judges and lawyer;
- Yeo Yang Poh, former Bar Council President; and
- Chooi Mun Sou, member of the three-man Ahmad Nordin Inquiry into the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance scandal in the mid-80s.