The affidavit of Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer on judicial corruption and misconduct and the serious allegations of judicial interference in the court cases of former DAP Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, the late Karpal Singh on his sedition appeal, the conviction and imprisonment of PKR President and MP for Port Dickson Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as well the case of Indira Gandhi have combined to make it most imperative that a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be set up into judicial independence and integrity in Malaysia.

As the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has said that a Royal Commission of Inquiry is one of the options open to the government in the face of the serious allegations of judicial misconduct, it is most timely that such a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be set up to restore public confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

The New Malaysia that Pakatan Harapan wants to build after the historic decision of the 14th General Election which carried out a peaceful and democratic transition of power the first time in six decades must include the restoration of public confidence in the three branches of government – the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary – as well as the important national institutions of State,t undergirding the return of the rule of law in Malaysia.

(Media comment by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang after the Chinese New Year Open House in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday, 17th February 2019)