Ulterior motives in the political persecution of Tommy Thomas
Distorting the legal process and destroying any sense of good governance
In the wake of the public prosecutor withdrawing the 47 charges against deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, he is wasting no time in pursuing a political vendetta against former attorney general Tommy Thomas.
On the day after the Johor Byelections, Zahid told the media that the government will submit the list of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) members to the Agong, to investigate the book Thomas wrote in 2021, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.
This is a very irregular move to investigate anyone for sedition or any breach of the Official Secrets Act (OSA). Any RCI will only have the power to make recommendations to the government any charges, and not be able to lay charges in its own right.
The question that must be asked of the government is why is it pursuing this irregular procedure of holding an extremely expensive RCI, when it is the duty and responsibility of the police to undertake an investigation and recommend any charges to the attorney general?
We all remember the circus when Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor was arrested and formally charges for alleged seditious remarks against the Sultan of Selangor. Why must all this time and money be spent to investigate Thomas under a similar set of charges? It appears the government wants the media to report the daily hearings of an RCI so information can be disseminated to the public on a ‘drip by drip’ basis.
This is the proper procedure, not an inquisition
This highly expensive, taxpayer paid inquisition might be intended to become a tool to undermine the reputation of Thomas for some ulterior motive.
An ulterior motive?
Perhaps an ulterior motive of the RCI is to continually generate bad publicity for Thomas, who was deeply involved in the case against former prime minister Najib Razak, so the perception of doubt could be created in the public’s minds over the case.
A publicly discredited Thomas may soften the backlash and provide further reason for Najib to be granted and early pardon, and other outstanding charges be dropped, as demonstrated in the recent Zahid discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
Will the real prime minister please stand up
The Madani cabinet in agreeing to the RCI is doing the bidding of Zahid. The RCI is a clear breach of proper legal procedure and thus the rule of law. This action has also breached the ethics of good governance, giving the appearance of selective persecution.
Is this part of the get Najib out of jail strategy?
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Politics are about power. power is evil. All politicians are evil. The more the evil, the more powerful and successful a politician will be.
In their quest for power, all politicians talks of struggle for good and not evil.
They speak of ideology and principles, philosophy and belief systems, promises of fullfilment to all especially for those who vote them into power.
Once in power, those promises are meaningless and are immediately forgotten.
They will quickly become a conniving shameless untrustworthy narcissist that deceives, lie and steal from the very people that support them, sell their own tribes and ride on their own religion.
Murray, I envision you co-authoring a novel with TT akin to Grisham's The Firm, where the author weaved hypothetical scenarios into the machinations of his legal firm. You get the sense that the dubious characters are still biting the chilli the past three decades as it unfolds on Netflix.
Patail's enduring silence thus far amid the shameful way the BN administration dismissed him is remarkable, which raises the question: Can legal minds channel their experiences into hypotheticals within the confines of a book rather than compromising their oath of office with full disclosure?
I am outside to comment, but I have observed that no matter how you torture a trained legal mind, they emerge a trained legal mind.
Presumably, lawyers have been menaced and glorified in their careers, but their imbued doctrine of confidentiality must hold sway above all else. They may not emulate Grisham, but this adherence to confidentiality allows them to clink glasses at the cocktails with those who have tested their mettle.
I love your work.
Peace!