THE Pakatan Harapan presidential council urged the Government to respect the independence of the judiciary, given that the latter has been under criticism by several quarters lately.
“We stand by what Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat had said yesterday that the criticisms against the judiciary and several judges in the last few days has gone too far.
“We wish to remind the Government that the judiciary’s independence must be respected and protected at all times, as per clause 4.1 of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Pakatan,” it said, in a joint statement.
The joint statement was signed by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke and UPKO president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
In a rare rebuke yesterday, Tengku Maimun fired a salvo against several quarters for launching baseless attacks against judges in an attempt to undermine the credibility of the courts.
“Citizens including politicians are, to a certain extent, are free to criticise the judiciary. However, that does not mean that it is open to citizens including politicians to level unfounded and scurrilous attacks against the judiciary or a particular judge to further their own end.
“What has happened in the past few days involving slander against judges and the judiciary, in my view, is quite excessive,” The Malay Mail Online reported her as saying in a speech, which received standing ovation from the judges present.
Last week, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) announced that it has opened an investigation against Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, following allegation by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin that he had unexplained amount of money in his bank account.
Nazlan was the High Court judge who convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for misappropriating RM42 mil from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Stay in line
It is to note that the last time the judiciary came under such attack was in 1988, when UMNO was embroiled in a “civil war” between former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.
The attacks were later followed by a constitutional crisis, which saw then-Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and several high-ranking judges getting dismissed.
On that note, Pakatan urged the Government to respect the MoU and ensure enforcement agencies act within their purview so as to not breach the Federal Constitution and undermine the judiciary.
“An independent judiciary is the last bastion of a functioning democracy and it should remain that way so that the people will have confidence in our system,” they remarked. – April 28, 2022
