Lingam tape RCI – Mahathir evasive, forgetful and irresponsible
Note:
The RCI, or the Haidar Commission as I choose to label it, has yet to call Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim as witness. I have been told that the PKR Ketua Umum has been asked to submit written statement which they will first vet and then decide whether he will be asked to testify before Tan Sri Haidar Mohamad Noor and his Commissioners. Are they afraid of what he might say? It may be recalled that it was Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim who first brought the Lingam Pita Video titled “Correct, Correct, Correct” to our attention.
Fellow bloggers and friends, please tell me what is going on our Boleh Land (Can-Land). Is the Badawi Government serious about stopping the rot in the Judiciary? He has already spent lots of money (sum undisclosed) on the Royal Commission on the Royal Police Force without taking any serious action on their substantive recommendations. Now it would appear we are going to have a boria (Penang soap opera) session at taxpayers’ expense again.
Are we that rich to squander public funds? What happens when our oil reserves run out? I think, Dato Seri Najib has already given us the answer: “Malaysia will be bankrupt!!”
—Din Merican
source: www.limkitsiang.com
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was a poor witness yesterday at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam videotape scandal.
He was evasive, uncharacteristically forgetful as to be prone to sudden bouts of amnesia on certain crucial events which Mahathir had never been known to suffer from and broke his word that he would respond to all questions to the best of his ability.
Most of the time, Mahathir was evading questions to the best of his ability, including his resort to “prerogative” to refuse to answer questions for the reasons why he rejected the recommendation of the then Chief Justice Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah in 2002 for the appointment of the late Tan Sri Abdul Malek Ahmad as Chief Judge of Malaya, favouring instead of Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.
Mahathir was downright wrong and irresponsible in pleading prerogative to refuse to answer questions why the recommendation of a Chief Justice who was most familiar with the best qualities of his brother judges was rejected.
While the prerogative of the Prime Minister under the Constitution to decide on who should be recommended for appointment to the various high judicial offices in the country is not challenged or doubted, it is wrong to equate of prerogative of a Prime Minister in a democratic system of government with the royal prerogative of divine rule.
This is because the prerogative of a Prime Minister in an elected system of government, while assuring the Prime Minister as having the final say in the decision-making, does not give the Prime Minister the immunity to disregard accountability, transparency and integrity in the exercise of the prerogative.
This is my second disappointment with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape scandal. Two days ago, I asked why the Royal Commission of Inquiry had not subpoenaed V. K. Lingam to be the first witness to ascertain from him whether he conceded the authenticity of the 14-minute tape, especially as he has authorized his lawyer to say that the person in the tape looked and sounded like him.
Why was Lingam allowed to run the Royal Commission of Inquiry around in circles on the authenticity of the tape when this should be the first issue to be disposed off, with Lingam in the witness box, one way or another?
My second disappointment is that the Royal Commission of Inquiry yesterday allowed the former Prime Minister to get away so easily, when Mahathir should have been held to proper responsibility and accountability for a dark chapter in the nation’s judicial history.
Many Malaysians get the impression that the Royal Commission of Inquiry members treated Mahathir with “kid’s gloves” as they were in awe and even in some fear of the longest-serving Prime Minister in the country.
The proceedings of the first four days of the Royal Commission of Inquiry do not inspire confidence that it could play a seminal role to restore national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the Malaysian judiciary.
(Media Conference Statement at Kota Kinabalu Airport on Friday, 18th January 2008 at 1.30 pm)
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I just wish I can find kind words to describe this man, but regrettably I have none. Today, he further exposed himself by showing the world his true colors. Most men his age at 82 years old, will want to repent and I believe as Muslims they want to go “clean” when their time comes for them join their creator but he sees no urgency in doing that. There’s a Malay saying, “Manusia mati tinggal nama, Binatang mati tinggal bangkai”. Hope Mahathir remembers.
It’s still not too late for him to repent, he has offended and ripped the lives of many Malaysians and rightly apologies are due.
Jong - January 19, 2008 at 5:35 am
[...] Lingam tape RCI – Mahathir evasive, forgetful and irresponsible [...]
Kecek-kecek Tok Mudin 3.0 | Mahathir mudah lupa - January 19, 2008 at 7:44 am
Comments I received from Oknuya via e-mail today (January 19):
“Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (AAB) is not going to reverse anything, neither is he interested in redeeming himself against negative public perceptions. At first I thought AAB is really “inept”, that the word you used to say, but if you look carefully, he knows exactly where he wants to bring Malaysia into.Judicial rot, shambled public safety, tolerance of corrupt ministers and public officers, protection upon “little Mullahs and Napoleons,” insensitive religious edicts – these are, in fact, his deliberate schemes.
What is still hidden is his purpose. Here in this blog we scream ourselves hoarse against what we normally perceive as injustices or corruptions, and we thought that AAB is really the sleeping PM. We are wrong.
A glimpse of the hidden purpose was said in Madrid. He said there is not separation between religion and state. That means we are going to be ruled by Mullahs. Mullah cannot come in if our judiciary system is working. That must be destroyed first.
Then public safety is going to be destroyed with kidnappings and killings. He needed that before he could impose Islamic laws. His argument would be that the present system is not working and needed to be revamped. The Hudud would be introduced.
The corrupt Ministers are also part of his plan. Corruption will reach a level where he publicly announces an abolition of the parliamentary system. Ministers would be appointed through the Board of Mullahs. We see a testing of this system through the “little Mullahs.” Only DAP protested, if you notice and he knows DAP cannot form the majority in this election. Once this is in place, he will revamp the economic system. That would be easy because there would be nothing that can legally hold him. He would devalue the ringgit, cancel debts of UMNO-related borrowings and place the Monetary Policy under Syariah. In an instant the wealth of the Chinese would be gone.
He is smarter than what we thought.”
Oknuya,
You are speculating. He is incapable of such “strategic thinking”. He does not decide; some people led by his son-in-law are running the country for him. That is why AAB can afford to doze off as he pleases at functions and Cabinet and other meetings. He is sleepwalking most of the time. He thinks he can be a Ronald Reagan of Malaysia!! Furthermore, the Malaysian people will not allow this to happen. By the way, when you and I know his moves, he can’t be that smart. Din Merican.
dinobeano - January 19, 2008 at 10:01 am
Mahathir is a gone, gone …finshed/kaput!!!
Kojak - January 19, 2008 at 12:33 pm
He is such a total let down for all Malaysians. Lock him in a piece of carbonite and hang him on Petronas Tower!
Guffaw - January 19, 2008 at 1:27 pm
No, put him ontop of a Proton for display, drive along the lengths of North-South Plus highway, built by his cronies!
Kui - January 19, 2008 at 2:32 pm