Respect judicial system and let law take its course, says PM
(The Star) PETALING JAYA: Respect the judicial system and let the law of the country take its course, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Barisan Nasional, the Prime Minister said, would respect the Federal Court’s decision on Perak should there be an appeal.
He said the judiciary should not be run down just because its decision did not favour a party.
Togetherness: Najib giving the thumbs-up at the launch of the Unity Week in Petaling Jaya yesterday. With him is his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. “We hope there is a finality to this process. I understand they will very likely appeal to the Federal Court. It is their right to do that and we will accept the decision by the Federal Court which is the highest court,” he said.
He said an emergency state assembly sitting was an option to bring closure to the Perak dilemma but not the only way to determine the majority.
“As a Government, we hope there is a finality so that we can continue to serve the people.
“It (convening the state assembly) is an option open to us but it is not necessarily the only way to decide which government has a majority voice,” Najib said yesterday after launching the national-level Unity Week 2009 at the IOI Mall in Puchong.
On Friday, the Court of Appeal declared Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir as the rightful Perak Mentri Besar.
Najib said that international legal experts such as the Queen’s Counsel Lord Anthony Lester of Herne Hill concurred with the Court of Appeal’s decision.
“We sought his legal opinion. If a Queen’s Counsel like Lord Lester is of the opinion that we are on the right track with the Court of Appeal’s decision, then we should not misunderstand or give a negative perception towards the judiciary.
“We should not have the attitude that if the decision sides us, then the judiciary is free. But if it takes a decision which is the same as the Government had wished for, then it is accused of following the Government’s lead. This is not fair.”
Najib also slammed PKR adviser and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for claiming that the judiciary was in tatters just because the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Dr Zambry.
“He himself tried to form a government in the same way by trying to influence our 31 MPs to jump ship. He should ask himself instead of accusing the judiciary,” he added.
