The Cabinet should override Police and AG to establish a RCI into Sarbani Mohamed’s death

Lim Kit Siang

The Cabinet tomorrow should override Police and Attorney-General to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into senior Customs officer Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed’s death as in the case of Teoh Beng Hock to restore public confidence not only in national institutions but also Prime Minister and Cabinet.

I have no qualms in admitting that I have reservations about the Teoh Beng Hock Royal Commission of Inquiry, particularly over the conduct and strategy adopted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and its counsel Shafie who could make the outrageous suggestion of Teoh Beng Hock’s committing “honour suicide”, but Malaysians are currently deprived of a more satisfactory option to get to the bottom of Sarbani’s death.

I hope to be proven wrong over my reservations over the Teoh Beng Hock Royal Commission of Inquiry. However, the Cabinet’s immediate task is to act boldly and justly into the death of Sarbani.

Let Najib and his Cabinet Ministers not disappoint Malaysians once again tomorrow.

In the past few days, Malaysians have been regaled by Wikileaks highlighting the utter lack of confidence of top government planners and officers in the “political will” of the Prime Minister to “transform” the nation as in implementing the New Economic Model to ensure Malaysia’s quantum leap to escape the middle-income trap to become a high-income developed country. 

Nobody is really surprised by the Wikileaks.

Tomorrow Najib and his Cabinet will be facing another test – whether they dare to act boldly and justly to override the Attorney-General and the Police establishing a RCI into Sarbani’s death or they are just “sitting ducks” waiting for a change of government in Putrajaya in the next general elections.