Standing up for the right things, not the stable ones

 

(TMI) – Time for some honesty. Twenty-five years ago when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dismantled one of the most respected judicial institutions in the Commonwealth and destroyed the concept of separation of powers in Malaysia, how many Malaysians were truly upset with his interference?

Not disappointed or perturbed, but truly upset.

Think back to the sacking of Tun Salleh Abas in 1988 and the suspension of Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawan Teh and Datuk George Seah.

Think back to the constitutional amendments pummelled through Parliament by Dr Mahathir, changes which essentially divested the judiciary of some of its powers.

No shame in admitting that the incident called the judicial crisis of 1988 barely registered a blip on the radar of most Malaysians.

The Bar Council led the charge, often taking on the Mahathir administration single-handedly in seeking justice for the wronged justices.

Opposition veterans like Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang shouted themselves hoarse on the far-reaching consequences of that politically-motivated intervention by Dr Mahathir.

But few were interested in listening to them, or even reading the book by K. Das on the darkest day in the history of the judiciary.

To the average Malaysian, what was happening to Salleh Abas and friends seemed so far away, so remote, something which had little to do with their quality of life. Few thought about what would happen to this country with a compliant and lame judiciary.

Very few wondered whether years down the road they would be denied justice because of the executive’s involvement in the selection and promotion of judges.

Few even harboured the thought that the written judgments of Malaysian judges, once widely respected for clarity, competence and sense of fairness, would be caricatured as cut and paste jobs.

Perhaps, more Malaysians have been forced to finally think about the judiciary in the wake of the Court of Appeal’s decision on October 14 on the Allah issue.

Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/standing-up-for-the-right-things-not-the-stable-ones