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©The Malaysian Insider (Used by permission)
by Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 – Opposition stalwart Karpal Singh's success on Wednesday in getting the support of 57 lawmakers to force a Parliamentary debate on Chief Justice Tan Sri Zaki Azmi's alleged misconduct is testament to the strength of the opposition in Parliament.

But the motion has been criticised by some lawyers as being petty and politically motivated.

"This (debate of misconduct) is all about politics...it is not about the judiciary, not about cleaning up or rehabilitating the judiciary," said a senior lawyer requesting anonymity because of legal sensitivities.

"We fear the judiciary will be damaged by this move and not rehabilitated," he said, adding that Zaki's speech, in which he admits "to bribe each and every individual," had a context to it that is now missing in the arguments in Parliament.

"Bribe does not mean use of money. Nor does he say he did it...in fact he denies it," the lawyer said.

"The context is that Zaki is against it. He is opposed to it and he is cleaning up and he is warning the court staff against it," the lawyer said, admitting, however, that the legal fraternity is heavily divided over the issue and how to respond to it.

The Bar Council, which had supported Zaki's appointment as Chief Justice despite his background as an Umno lawyer, has not issued a statement on the issue or on Karpal's campaign.

Karpal's motion calls for a debate on Zaki's alleged misconduct and also that he be referred to a tribunal appointed by the King to remove him as Chief Justice.

Another senior lawyer said the issue is petty in comparison to the "real and very serious" misconduct involving former chief justices that was exposed during the public inquiry into the "V.K. Lingam" video in 2007.

"Zaki is gradually cleaning up the judiciary but now, with this allegation hanging over him, he might be sidetracked," the lawyer said adding, however, that MPs like Karpal Singh have a duty as elected officials to the people and it is the right of Parliament to debate judicial misconduct if enough MPs want it.

"In this case, the required number of MPs have signed up to back a debate," the lawyer said. "The request must be honoured."

Whatever the judicial view of the case is, politically, it is a significant victory for the Pakatan Rakyat coalition and showcases its power and strength before the people and the benefits of "checks and balances."

Karpal managed to get 57 MPs or 25% of the 222 MPs to file the motion under Standing Order 36(8) and Article 127 of the Federal Constitution to debate the conduct of the Chief Justice.

"Such a subjective motion requires 14 days notice, so it will be on the order paper before the house adjourns in December," Karpal told reporters on Wednesday. "Zaki has refused to step down...so we have to take it further."

Karpal's motion states that the House needed to discuss the conduct of Zaki over comments made in Kuching on Nov 7 in which he said that, when he was a practising lawyer in 1987, "it took me six months to be nice, to bribe each and every individual to get back into their good books before our files were attended to. That was my personal experience and I am telling this to all the clerks and all the registries to stop this nonsense."

On Nov 8, the New Straits Times carried a clarification by Zaki saying: "Your reporter must have misinterpreted what I said, which is, during that period there was corruption in order to get things done at the court registry, as I myself have done it. I have never in my life bribed or received any bribe."

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