PRESENT POINT POWER

Malaysiakini has the lead and breaking story on thie RCI set up under
Lingam tape: PM okays royal commission
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UPDATE: Nov 19 07; November 19, 2007 20:59 PM

Royal Commission Members' List To Be Submitted To Cabinet Wednesday

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- The proposed names of candidates for the royal commission to investigate the "Lingam" video clip will be tabled at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz. The Cabinet meeting will also discuss the royal commission's scope of power. "There is no other information at the moment. Everything will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday," he told Bernama here today.
Nazri was among three ministers appointed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to study the report by a special independent panel
to verify the authenticity of the video clip. The two others were Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad. The video purportedly shows a prominent lawyer on the phone discussing judicial appointments with a senior judge. Abdullah announced on Friday that a royal commission would be set up to investigate the video clip.

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At last the government of PM Abdullah after much dilly dally with the appointment of a 3-member Panel to investigate first the Clip’s authenticity has bowed to widespread and popular demands for the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry which has wide ranging powers to go to the bottom of the Video Clip whose authenticity has been finally nailed with the release of the second installment of 10 sec by Datuk Anwar Ibrahim.What remain now is the knotty details of the RCI, its terms of references and the choice of members of the RCI. PM Abdullah said no pressure was exerted to make the decision but it will be seen Malaysia is under sever scrutiny from the international community on this judiciary issue and over the Bersih Rally protest as acknowledge by Datuk Nazri in the recent Al Jazeera forum discussion.

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November 16, 2007 19:01 PM
Royal Commission To Be Set Up To Probe Controversial Video Clip

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- A royal commission will be set up to investigate a video clip featuring a purported telephone conversation between a prominent lawyer and a senior judge over the appointment of judges. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the establishment of the panel was deemed appropriate based on the report by a three-man panel set up to determine the authenticity of the video clip recently.

"We've agreed to set up the commission. Now we're deciding on the terms of reference, the tasks to be undertaken by the commission," he told reporters after bidding farewell to Uruguayan President Dr Tabare Vasquez and his wife (BELOW, final chat with Abdullah), Maria Auxiliadora Delgado de Vasquez, who ended their two-day visit to Malaysia today.

Abdullah said the three ministers who were tasked by the cabinet to give legal input on the report by the three-man independent panel would give their views and suggestions at the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The prime minister said the members of the royal commission would be determined after its terms of reference were finalised.
Asked whether the government was pressured into establishing the commission by certain groups, Abdullah reiterated that the decision was based on the report submitted by the special panel.

"Before this we said that please wait for the panel to come up with its report. The report is out and based on its contents, it appears that it is appropriate to set up the royal commission, hence our decision," he said. The special panel comprised former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor, social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye and former Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mahadev Shankar.

The three ministers asked to give legal input on the panel's report are Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Home Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

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"The Bar council welcomed the setting up of the Royal Commission to probe the video clip incident. We are very pleased and we fully support the setting up of the Royal Commission. We hope the terms of reference of the Royal Commission are wide so that they can investigate all incidents and all issues that arose of the video clip fully."

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2007/11/16

Rais: Royal commission a possibility By : V. Vasudevan and Shuhada Eli, NST
T

KUALA LUMPUR: Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said the government was open to the possibility of setting up a royal commission on the "Lingam" video clip. "The tendency towards it is possible but we'll have to wait for the prime minister to make the announcement," he said. Rais is one of the three ministers assigned the task of advising the cabinet next week on the legal aspects of subsequent action after an independent panel submitted its findings on the authenticity of the video clip last Friday. "From my point of view, the government will do its very best to settle the issue," he said after launching a book by the late Usman Awang entitled Turunnya Sebuah Bendera at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage here yesterday. The New Straits Times reported yesterday that the panel had concluded that the recording, which showed lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam (BELOW, the unmistakable) allegedly discussing judicial appoitments with a senior judge, was genuine and merited further investigation. T

he three-member panel, formed in September, comprised former chief judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor, former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mahadev Shankar and social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye. Rais said he had read the panel's reports but could not reveal the findings. The other members of the ministerial trio are Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad. Nazri said they would be submitting their advice separately to the cabinet, and would not be talking to each other or meeting over it. "Just like the three-man panel, we will provide our own input on the report," he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday. On Wednesday, the cabinet, following a briefing from Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Sidek Hasan, decided that a copy of the panel's report would be given to all ministers. "Better to have feedback from 32 ministers than just a mere three ministers. This is in case we miss out something," Nazri said. The cabinet is expected to make a decision on the findings next Wednesday. Nazri said he was likely to read and evaluate the report during his visit to Teheran to attend the Asian Parliamentary Union meeting. He leaves on Saturday but said he would be back on Wednesday morning to attend the cabinet meeting.

= == = =from Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang Blog, his recommendations and demands for the RCI
There should be no more further delay in the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape specifically and generally the independence and integrity of the judiciary, and the three issues which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should be mindful are:
• Full and proper consultation with relevant personalities and organizations on the Royal Commission of Inquiry;
• Full and untrammeled powers for the Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate into every aspect of the Lingam Tape revelations and the restoration of confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary; and
• The appointment of suitable and qualified Commissioners.
Abdullah will defeat the whole purpose of a Royal Commission of Inquiry if its establishment is the subject of another debilitating and divisive public controversy, either because of its restricted terms of reference or composition.
On its composition, there are clearly certain controversial personalities who should not be appointed as Commissioners or the whole process will become a farce.In this category I will include three former Chief Justices – Tun Ahmad Fairuz, Tun Eusuffe Chin and Tun Hamid Omar because of their controversial past which should be among the subjects of the inquiry. Another former Chief Justice, however, Tun Dzaiddin will be eminently suitable to be a member of the Commission. Special thought must be given for the Chairman of the Royal Commission to restore confidence in the judiciary.

The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr. Nazrain Shah will be a very good choice as Chairman of the Royal Commission of Inquiry to restore confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary, although the ideal candidate would be Sultan Azlan Shah (ABOVE) especially as he was Lord President during the golden era of the Malaysian judiciary a quarter of a century ago. The Commissioners should come from a representative cross-section including former members of the judiciary, like former Court of Appeal judges Datuk Shaikh Daud and Datuk N. H. Chan and former High Court judge and leading Malaysian jurist Datuk Seri Visu Sinadurai.

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