De facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said he issued a denial on
behalf of the chief justice in relation to the explosive ‘Lingam
tape’
revelations because “I am his minister”.
“I am his minister. I am the minister in charge of legal affairs, he is clever
enough to know that the reporters will ask me for a response,” Nazri explained
when contacted today to explain his intervention in the matter.
Most of the newspapers today had reported his comments on behalf of Chief
Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, who himself has chosen to remain
silent.
On why Ahmad Fairuz has been evading the media, Nazri said it was because the
former is not answerable to the press.
Nazri, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, also slammed the media
for “rumour-mongering” in giving widespread publicity to the video recording,
released by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim last Wednesday.
The eight-minute edited video showed senior lawyer VK Lingam talking on the
phone, apparently brokering the appointment of judges with Ahmad Fairuz, who was
the chief judge of Malaya in 2002 when the recording was said to have been made.
Although only Lingam is seen in the video clip, the context of the conversation
indicates that the other person at the end was Ahmad Fairuz.
After maintaining silence for two days, the chief justice last Friday told
malaysiakini in a two-paragraph fax that he had no comment on the matter.
The next day, Nazri told the media that Ahmad Fairuz had contacted him to deny
that he was the other party in the telephone conversation.
Earlier efforts to contact Lingam for comment were futile as he was said to be
abroad until the end of the month.
Bar showing hostility?
Nazri branded the Bar Council’s plan to hold a march on Wednesday to press for
investigation into the scandal as an attempt to display ‘hostility’ and as
support of the opposition.
“Lawyers are officials of the court, they have a place in the society. They
shouldn’t behave like the opposition,” argued the clearly annoyed minister.
He said lawyers should send a memorandum to him or Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi as this would be a “proper manner” of response.
“If they want to stoop so low and go there like (an) opposition demonstration,
certainly they will lose my respect because I have been having a very good
relationship with the Bar.
“Why do they want to lower their standard, unless they want to show they are
hostile (to the government) and (that they) support the opposition.”
Saying that the Bar should remain an independent body, he equated lawyers
joining the march to the conduct of opposition politicians Lim Kit Siang and
Anwar.
Nazri said he was not questioning the lawyers’ right to march and that he was
not calling for the plan to be scrapped, but said he was not happy with the
choice of action.
Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan in an earlier statement had said it was
high time for lawyers and the public to act decisively and not remain in a state
of denial.
“For too long we have cried out for reform, but the authorities have not heeded
our pleas. Malaysians cannot afford to stand by and watch any longer,” she
stated.
March to start at 11am
The lawyers plan to march from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s
Department in Putrajaya to submit a memorandum calling for a royal commission of
inquiry to be set up.
They are expected to be joined by members of NGOs, political parties and student
groups.
In a statement today, the Bar Council - the governing body of the 13,500-strong
Malaysian Bar - said those who wish to join the march should meet at the stairs
of the Palace of Justice at 11am on Wednesday.
Alternatively, participants can use chartered buses that will be at Dataran
Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur at 9am that morning.
At an emergency meeting on Saturday, the Bar Council had also decided to hold an
extraordinary general meeting on Oct 6 to look into the rot in the judiciary
since the 1988 crisis.
CJ answerable to the Minister? written by Kelvin Ng Sin Huat ,
Monday, September 24 2007 06:13 pm
The Honorable Minister seems to be very concerned with "proper manner" response and yet he is claiming that he is the CJ's minister and the CJ is answerable to him! Can some first year law students volunteer to tutor him on the doctrine of separation of powers??
Kelvin Ng Sin Huat
Stooping low? Speaking of who?? written by Shim Wai Loon,
Monday, September 24 2007 06:16 pm
"I am his minister." What a brilliant line given. Be it the minister had learnt about separation of powers in law school, he obviously failed to appreciate that the separation is supposed to be a 'clear separation'. Since he is in the branch of the executive, he just needs to serve his PM well and nothing more than that, certainly not being a minister TO any judges. With such a grey area of overlapping boundary, can the judiciary be still independent? What is the need for a judge to use a minister as his spokesman? Why did the judge need such a favour from a minister? And more importantly, what did/will the judge do to return such a favour?
The Bar had made it clear that the reason for the upcoming march is due to our long outcry of reform which had not been answered for, so we hope this marching will awake our society and shake the highest authority on this important issue by telling them the Bar will not tolerate such a nonsense. The learned minister viewed that the Bar by doing the marching had stooped very low in standard, be that as it may, I am proud to say that the Bar at least did not bend as low as others can in order to rub each other's back.
Shim Wai Loon
... written by Kelvin Ng Sin Huat,
Monday, September 24 2007 06:38 pm
"On why Ahmad Fairuz has been evading the media, Nazri said it was because the former is not answerable to the press."
Didn't the CJ issue a statement to Malaysiakini that he had no comment on the clip?
Kelvin Ng Sin Huat
CJ's past record bad written by Amer Hamzah Arshad,
Monday, September 24 2007 07:35 pm
Lest we forget, this is also the same CJ who had contradicted himself vis-a-vis the unwritten judgments issue. First he denied that there were judges who had more than 30 outstanding judgements to be written. Subsequently it was proven that he wasn't telling the truth.
Now, we have the same CJ (through his proxy) denying being the person whom VK Lingam spoke to.
Are we supposed to accept the CJ's explanation at face value given his past record?
Amer Hamzah Arshad
CLP New Syllabus written by Clement Ong Tun Heang,
Monday, September 24 2007 10:17 pm
No wonder so many candidates failed in the CLP, because we Malaysian practice the different kind of the Separation of Powers.
Shall we send those CLP candidates for a special tutor class conducted by Honorable Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz?
Clement Ong Tun Heang
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Circular No 019/2012: Change of Address for Pejabat Pengarah Tanah dan Galian Wilayah Persekutuan
The Honorable Minister seems to be very concerned with "proper manner" response and yet he is claiming that he is the CJ's minister and the CJ is answerable to him! Can some first year law students volunteer to tutor him on the doctrine of separation of powers??
Kelvin Ng Sin Huat