This year and the last have been marked heavily by constant calls for a review of the 1988 fiasco where the Lord President was sacked along with two of his fellow brothers in a series of events which highlighted a struggle of power between the executive and the judiciary. The 1988 judicial crisis ended with the consolidation of the then Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad’s power over all three branches of the Malaysian Government. The judiciary, consequently, was never the same as allegations of corruption, favouritism and inefficiency plagued it consistently.
Tun Salleh Abas LP, as one of the players, spoke out this year of the challenges he faced and revealed new facts as to his sacking to the media, both mainstream and non-mainstream. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mohamed Nazri Aziz, himself has played down calls for a judicial review and has arbitrarily shot down any chance of such a review.
It is, however, dubious to this author of what consequence such a review can have if it is indeed allowed and established. Two of the sacked judges including the then-Lord President himself are in a poor physical state while the third has since passed on. There can obviously be no real or actual compensation to the victims, owing to the current status quo of the judiciary. Nor is any reprimand to the instigator of the 1988 proceedings, be it Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad or any other party or person, be of any real value considering how Dr. Mahathir, assuming that the esteemed ex-premier is truly the sine qua non of the whole affair, is no longer Prime Minister and has reaped the benefits, if any, of 1988 to its fullest. Moreover, the man who replaced Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President, who presided over the Tribunal which led to the latter’s sacking, has since retreated into the background.
The true result which the contending parties are striving to obtain is, of course, justice. That which has been reaped must be sowed, lest it remain in the ground; corrupting it. The restoration of the esteemed judges’ dignity and honour is a noble goal, and one which would allow them to regain their proper stature as defenders of justice in Malaysia. However, as much as we are tied to notions of honour and integrity above the surface, below it these things are already attributed to the esteemed judges. The public, consisting of the layman, already know the sacrifices the judges have made to the nation and are already aware of the injustices that were accorded to them. From the blue-collar worker to the millionaire corporate suit, they already whisper of the calamity that befell the tragic players and are fully in support of their plight, albeit not exhibited in a public arena.
The legal fraternity itself is in one mind concerning the matter, and are not adverse to sympathising. Lawyers know what went on in 1988, even those that were called up to the Bar subsequently. Students of the Certificate of Legal Practice (Sijil Amalan Guaman) also come to know of what befell the esteemed judges. Though the judges have been collectively labelled as judicial failures and traitors to the nation by the mainstream media and the Establishment, we must acknowledge that what lies in our minds is that which truly matters; and it is this inner revelation that magnifies the inconsistencies and injustices which pervade our nation. Truly, injustice has its own way of revealing itself; such is its quality.
Let the Establishment put down any call for review. Let it contradict itself on its own terms, thereby restoring the truth to its proper stature, without the need for printed text on a piece of paper or a great headline on the front page of a newspaper to tell us what we already know.
- This author, of course, does not wish to belittle the wishes of the respected judges who have recently spoken out, along with the spouse of one of the sacked judges who supported the call for a review. As such, if this author has done such a thing, then this article has been written with much regret.
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