PUCHONG: A Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) is needed to look into the “crisis” in the judiciary, which will see a large number of senior members exiting within a few months, says Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli.
A Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) proceeding should also look into the matter.
The Pandan MP said he and eight other senior PKR MPs would officially file a request for the proceedings and investigations to be conducted by the Human Rights, Election and Institutional Reform special select committee.
The proceeding will require Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to give clarification on the matter, he said.
He added that proceedings against a Prime Minister is an unprecedented move.
“We will write the request officially to the committee’s chairman William Leong (Selayang MP) and all members of the PSSC,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Rafizi said the investigation is needed to address claims that the government failed to take action although nominations for the new judges had been submitted to the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), leading to a void in the top two posts.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim retired on July 1 and July 2 respectively, with no permanent replacement named yet.
Rafizi also said the JAC had called for an emergency meeting last Friday without fulfilling the 10-day notice requirement.
“In the meeting, a Federal Court judge was called to give statements regarding an allegation that a case decision and change of judges were influenced by outsiders.
“A police report was filed by an officer of the judge,” the former PKR deputy president added.
He said the last time the judiciary was implicated was when the VK Lingam judge-fixing video scandal came into public domain in 2007.
“Therefore, I’m appealing to the government not to bury its heads in the sand; this is not going to go away.
“The crisis now is similar to what had happened before (in 2007).”
He also said the group of nine would work with other MPs across political parties to get support for the proposals.
Public forums would also be held nationwide to provide awareness, beginning with Kuala Lumpur and Selangor on Saturday.
“An online petition will also be launched,” he added.
Also at the press conference were Subang MP Wong Chen, Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail and several other senior PKR backbenchers.
Wong said that a PSSC proceeding was an appropriate platform to scrutinise the matter as it also involves Opposition MPs.
