Petition Royale
Technorati tags: Royal Commission, Save The Judiciary, LingamGate, Citizens Petition
Update on Oct 8 @ 1019hrs: As of yesterday at 2030hrs, the number of signatories stands at 2,268. Message from Haris: if one signee can get one other person, the 5,000 mark will be breached, no problemo...
First of all, a gazillion apologies from Walski to Haris Ibrahim and The People's Parliament for not doing this post sooner. But later is better than not at all, so here goes.
Contrary to what the Government wants you to believe, there is a crisis in the judiciary. The latest scandal has, of course, been LingamGate - the incriminating video implicating certain members of the judiciary... well, in a not so proprietary manner.
Malaysiakini has been closely following the developments ever since the video was released in September this year. Much has been said by many people, so Walski won't rehash any of it...
The lawyers have spoken... now it's YOUR turn
(picture courtesy of Being Unreasonable)
More importantly, the Government, despite calls from many quarters, has been reluctant to call for a Royal Commission to look into the authenticity of what information the video has revealed, and further the involvement of the individuals implicated. Instead, it had appointed its own panel of experts to look into the matter.
Why is the Government so reluctant? One can only guess... and speculation is rife that the Government does not want another can of worms to be opened. A can of worms that will eat away at whatever credibility it has left with the people.
(the Petition, and more, in the full post)
Why a Royal Commission? And why the current 3-person investigation panel doesn't suffice? Lawyer Malik Imtiaz, in his blog Disquiet, had written two posts, detailing why, which you can read in detail here and here. In a nutshell - the assured independence of the investigation, free of incumberance and interference by interested parties.
To view the petition draft, in English, see this The People's Parliament post. Due to the nature of the petition, and to whom it's addressed, the official protocol-friendly version (in Bahasa Malaysia) can be viewed here. After reading the draft, if you support it and wish to put your name to it, send an e-mail to savethejudiciary@gmail.com.
As of 1:30pm on October 5th, the number of signatories stands at 1,794. The target is 5,000. Now, people - this is an important way that you, as an individual, can contribute towards a more transparent and independent judiciary.
One that is guaranteed to us by the Malaysian Federal Constitution; your constitution - our constitution. So what the heck are you waiting for?
