KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 – DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has urged his fellow colleagues in the Opposition coalition to invoke Article 127 of the Federal Constitution to debate in Parliament the appointment of Tan Sri Zaki Azmi as Chief Justice.
Such a substantive motion has never been presented in Parliament before. In order to do so, he needs the support of 55 Members of Parliament, or just a quarter of the 222 lawmakers.
"Is Zaki capable of providing the necessary judicial leadership to ensure that Malaysia can rise above the past two decades of judicial darkness, plunging from one judicial scandal and crisis of confidence to another, and which reduced the Malaysian judiciary from its previous high international standing into a laughing stock for lack of independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary?" he queried.
The veteran leader called Zaki's appointment "the last nail in the coffin of Abdullah's pledge of judicial reform" in a press statement today.
Lim said that Datuk Seri Abdullah had reaffirmed his promise to deliver judicial reforms before his retirement as prime minister in March 2009, which includes the appointment of the top judge.
"The Prime Minister has shown utter disregard and contempt for the widespread objections of the legal community and civil society to the appointment of the first Umno Chief Justice in the 51-year history of the nation," he said.
The Ipoh Timur MP has been a vocal critic against Zaki's appointment to the Federal Court, as the latter was for many years the legal counsel for Umno and had also served on the party's Disciplinary Committee.
Lim had even raised the matter in the Dewan Rakyat last Wednesday before the appointment was confirmed yesterday evening. He had proposed High Court judge Hishammuddin Yunus, claiming that the latter's promotion in place of Zaki, would be "a credit to Malaysia". -- MI
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