Lawyers warn against race, religion creeping into Bar election
(FMT) : Lawyers have expressed concern over elements of race and religion creeping into the ongoing Bar Council election campaign, saying it will compromise professionalism in the august body.
They also said it would defeat the Bar Council’s opposition to discrimination of any sort.
The comments arose after campaign material began circulating via WhatsApp promoting the candidacy of 16 members: 15 Malays and one Chinese lawyer from Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
The message also quoted a verse from the Quran which touched on Jews and Christians.
Former council chief Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari called on members to cease sending such messages, saying the Malaysian Bar has no colour, race, creed or religion.
“Voting should not be on the basis of skin colour or religion. To exclude Muslims, Christians, Hindus or Buddhists is wrong and contrary to the Bar’s stand.
“One should look at issues that benefit members as the criteria for election,” he told FMT.
Lawyer Chan Kheng Hoe took to Facebook to express his disgust at this form of campaigning, calling it unacceptable.
“Extremism breeds extremism. Last year, the KL Bar voted for a 100% non-Malay team. I made my views known that it was unacceptable.
“This year, a Muslim organisation is citing anti-Christian and anti-Jew Quranic verses to garner support for a nearly 100% Malay team with one Chinese candidate among the 16 it has listed. This, too, is unacceptable,” his post read.
Chan said most lawyers were “decent chaps” who respected the rule of law and merely wanted to make a decent living.
“Please vote for those you personally know to be decent people and others you know by reputation to have done a good job. Please do not vote according to menus or lists,” he said.
Lawyer SN Nair said the Bar was “colourless” and had no labels at its inception.
“It’s the bounden duty of every lawyer to keep it that way and to not stray even an inch. We owe this to the profession and our role as justice seekers with no regard to colour and creed,” he said.
The Malaysian Bar is in the midst of of electing 16 members to the Bar Council.
They will join the immediate past president and vice-president of the Malaysian Bar and the chairmen of twelve state bar committees in Peninsular Malaysia.
Each state bar will later elect a second member to represent them on the 42-member Bar Council.
The national-level election is ongoing and is being conducted by postal ballot. Lawyers have until Nov 30 to submit their marked ballots, which will be tallied the following day.
The Bar Council for the 2025/2026 term is expected to take office in March next year.
Source : Freemalaysiatoday
