Referring to the promises of reform by our soon-to-be prime minister and since I believe in the rule of law and natural justice that a man is innocent until proven guilty, I want to give our soon-to-be prime minister the benefit of the doubt with regards to allegations surrounding him.

However, this is not given for free. He has to prove himself that he really means business when he said that he will initiate reform. Therefore, if Najib Abdul Razak is serious about reform, then I would expect him to initiate and push for the following reforms.

1. stop calling yourself ‘the government’ in all future elections and by-elections. You are not the government but only the ruling party, as shown by Kelantan, Penang, Perak (before the constitutional crisis) and Selangor where you are the opposition party whereas Pakatan Rakyat is the ruling coaltion.

2. Repeal all the draconian laws that have curtailed all Malaysians’ fundamental human rights. These laws are listed below:

i) the Internal Security Acts (ISA) - the detainees are denied of their fundamental human right to defend themselves before an impartial and just tribunal.

ii) the Printing Presses and Publication Act (PPPA) - all citizens of Malaysia are denied their citizen’s right to know what truly transpired behind the closed doors of the ruling party’s meetings. The country is denied of a credible body to provide a check-and-balance against the executive and that is an independent media that ask questions.

iii) the University and University College Act (UUCA) - all our brilliant young minds are denied their fundamental human right to association with societies (both political and/or apolitical) because of this act. Give them the freedom of expression and the space they need to nurture their creativity and leadership.

3. Amend the following laws to plug loopholes that allow institutions to abuse their powers and infringe our constitutional rights as citizens of Malaysia.

i) the Police Act - all Malaysians citizens are denied of their fundamental human right to assemble peacefully to express their opinions that are of huge public interest. Restoring citizens’ right of expression is what a democratic party should strive for.

The current Police Act has given such wide powers to the police force that legally speaking, a picnic party in the park would require a police permit if there were five people or more.

ii) the Official Secrets Act - concession agreements should not be classified as official secrets. Only those documents that would threaten the lives of our undercover police officers and the covert operatives of our armed forces should be classified as official secrets.

Only those documents that would reveal our strategic military strength should be classified as official secrets. Documents that would expose inappropriate arm deals costing the taxpayers millions of ringgit should not be classified as official secrets - they should be made evidence of corruption.

4. Enact laws that protect the fundamental citizen rights of all Malaysians. Such laws are:

i) A Freedom of Information Act - this empower independent bodies like a credible and independent media to uncover any act of corruptions and abuse of power. The spirit of the law should be such that the citizens of Malaysia have the right to know. For example, we, as taxpayers, should have the right to know how the ruling party spends our tax money and our EPF retirement funds.

ii) A Witness Protection Bill and a Whistle Blower Act - this provides protection to informants that would bring to light any misdeed committed by people sitting in high office. Hence giving a check and balance and encouraging clean governance of the country.

iii) A Public Utilities Act - This law should provide for an independent public commission to regulate all privately-owned companies that provide public utilities like electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, water, railroads, rail transit, independent power plants and public transportation.

This law would protect the ordinary citizen on the streets against the unscrupulous

overpaid CEOs of public utilities companies and give the people an avenue to dump non- performing companies that demand high charges but deliver poor services. We can then award these public utility contracts to a more efficient company that would lower their tariffs and improve their services.

iv) A Public Hearings Act - this law should empower the parliamentary opposition head to convene a special public hearing committee comprising members of public and members of parliament from both the ruling coalition as well as the opposition to investigate cases of abuse of power committed by cabinet members.

Once the public hearing has found enough evidence of corruption and abuse of power, the accused minister should immediately be sacked from his/her ministerial position hence allowing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to charge him/her in an open court.

6. Make the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) truly independent. The MACC should be made to report to Parliament.

7. Make the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) independent. This Public Complaints Bureau should be made to report their findings to the MACC. The Public Complaints Bureau and the MACC should work hand-in-hand to fight corruption and abuse of power.

Much like how the police force and the attorney-general should team up to fight against crime on the streets. A check and balance should also be established for the police to be empowered to investigate any report made against a member of the MACC and the Public Complaints Bureau.

8. The Judicial Appointments Commission should be made independent from the Prime Minister’s Department. They should not be made to report to anybody just like how Parliament should not be made to listen to the courts. However, the commission should comprise of prominent members from the Bar Council as well as of senior judges.

The commission should be empowered to impeach judges that are found corrupt and unethical. In order to establish such a mechanism, there should be a Judicial Complaints Bureau established to allow members of the the public to file complaints of misdeeds by judges. The Judicial Complaints Bureau should be empowered to conduct an investigation and a report be made to the Judicial Appointments Commission for an impeachment of any misbehaving judge.

If laws were broken, the impeachment would then allow the AG to charge the impeached judge in an open court.

I would bet that all Malaysians would throw our full support behind Najib if he manages to do all the eight things listed above, and we would all believe him when he says he does not know Altantuya and he had nothing to do with her murder.

After all, he would have proven himself that he really has nothing to hide by establishing such mechanisms that would allow him to be brought forward to face a public hearing chaired by the opposition head. Anything less would show that any mention of reform by him is mere rhetoric.