I refer to the malaysiakini report Dr M: I did not shackle the judiciary .

Malaysians of all walks of life are certainly shamefully amused to hear the claims of former premier, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who denies he had shackled the judiciary.

Either the former premier suffers from selective amnesia or in his haste and arrogance to dislodge the present premier, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he is conveniently forgetting that in his tenure of more than 22 years, Malaysia and Malaysians had seen an abuse of the country's coffers and the eroding of natural justice that made Malaysia a laughing stock of the civilised world.

But, thanks to the leadership of both Abdullah and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak, attempts are now being made to undo many a past wrong and steer the nation into the stream of accountability, transparency and good governance.

But the pertinent question remains: How far will Mahathir go to bring down Abdullah? Mahathir has already lost any resemblance of credibility when he shamelessly denied the undeniable - his role in Operasi Lalang in 1987. An operation that was put into place to assure he would not be politically challenged but that attempt also crippled and crushed democracy in Malaysia to the fullest.

The same man who had a record of contempt for lawyers and the law today, however, speaks as if he is a monument to justice, truth and fair play. And this is why it is pertinent that the present government re-examine several matters pertaining to morality, ethics and accountability during the former premier's tenure among them, the alleged shackling of the judiciary and the 1988 judicial crisis.

The Malaysian judiciary has never recovered from that drastic blow to date despite repeated assurance from many, which include people on the bench. In 1988 and afterwards, many decent individuals, who were prominent judges, suffered as a result of a political decision.

The re-examination of the 1988 judicial crisis will be a painful process but the truth must be told and those who suffered the fate of being sacking unjustly be accorded natural justice and dignity.

One man who thinks he knows the'psyche and the political mind of the Malay thinks the government of the day does not have the political will, guts and boldness to reveal the 1988 episode for what it was.

The government must prove him wrong. We must start the healing process with a royal commission on the 1988 judicial crisis.