Anwar adds voice to judicial crisis review calls
Malaysiakini
Sep 25, 2006

Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has joined the chorus demanding a review to the 1988 judicial crisis which resulted in the sacking of the country’s top judges.

“I fully support the demand by former Lord President Salleh Abas and the Bar Council for the establishment of an independent commission to look into the causes of the 1988 judicial crisis,” said Anwar in a statement today.

In 1988, then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had Salleh tried by a special tribunal on charges of misconduct for questioning constitutional amendments that seriously eroded the powers of the judiciary.

Later, two of five supreme court judges - George Seah and Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh - who had ruled that the special tribunal was convened unconstitutionally were also sacked.

Some have described the dismissal of the three top judges from the Supreme Court - then the country's highest court, now renamed as Federal Court - as Malaysia’s darkest hours in its judicial history.

Anwar, who is now opposition PKR advisor, said that the country’s judiciary was once “well-regarded around the world for its independence and integrity”.

“However, since the 1988 judicial crisis, episodes such as the Ayer Molek case, the resignation of High Court judge Syed Ahmad Idid Abdullah as well as my own sham trial have tarnished the image of our judiciary,” said Anwar, who himself was sacked by Mahathir eight years ago.

Anwar, 58, was then jailed after convictions for sodomy and corruption involving the misuse of power.

He was released in September 2004 when his sodomy conviction was overturned. Anwar has adamantly claimed that the charges were trumped up as part of a political conspiracy against him, an allegation which Mahathir had denied.

Show real leadership

“The government's refusal to review the 1988 crisis reflects the superficial commitments it has made towards integrity and reform. It is time for the government to move beyond its pious platitudes and demonstrate real leadership,” said Anwar.

“An honest and independent review is imperative to redeem the dignity and the reputation of those wronged since the 1988 judicial crisis, and to restore the faith of Malaysians in their judicial system.”

He said the “perpetrators” of the incident must be held to account for their actions.

“Furthermore an impartial review must lead to substantive reforms in the judicial appointment process in order to protect the sanctity of the judiciary against future exploitation.”

According to Salleh, he was told by Mahathir to either “resign or be sacked” at a meeting before he was hauled in front of the special tribunal. 

A month ago, Salleh broke his 18-year silence and supported the Bar Council’s call to review the judicial crisis.

On Sept 13, government backbencher Zaid Ibrahim, in a passionate speech in Parliament, also called for a review of the issue.

Zaid, who is also a lawyer, said that Salleh “was not sacked because he wrote a letter to the King or because of his speech delivered in Universiti Malaya. It was because he wanted a nine-judge panel to hear the Umno case.”