I refer to the Malaysiakini report Clamour for CJ to step down .

I disagree with Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang's statement that the tribunal before which the Chief Justice must appear should comprise persons who hold or have held the office of judge of the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal or a High Court. I concede that that was what the constitution may have stated.

But the Lingam tape scandal has demonstrated that the whole judiciary has been compromised from the High Court right up to the Federal Court. Who in the High Court or the Court of Appeal or the Federal Court is 'clean' enough to sit on this tribunal when their appointment had the sanction of the CJ?

In Malaysia, I can only think of two retired judges who are qualified to sit on the tribunal. One is Syed Ahmad Idid and the other is Sheik Daud Ismail. This scandal has vindicated Syed Ahmad Idid who tried to highlight the rot in the judiciary . He instead became the victim.

What we have here is a lawyer who is so powerful that he can influence the bestowing of a 'Tan Sri' title onto a person. He can even influence the fate of a judge to be promoted or appointed to the highest judicial office in the land. What more then the appointment of High Court judges and the Court of Appeal judges? I am aware that some of the judges are innocent and are promoted based on their ability and merits. Such judges are too rare and too few.

The Lingam tape has besmirched the integrity of the appointment process of the judiciary. As such, I say that the only credible members of the tribunal should be eminent judges from Commonwealth countries and the two names above from Malaysia.

As for Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, he should be suspended and leave office immediately. To allow him to remain in office till October is being too kind for such a person.

As for Lingam, I am sure the Bar Council Disciplinary Board will give him a very fair hearing. As a lawyer, I am sure many people in the country would like to know what he really meant when he said: 'We want to make sure our friends are there for the sake of the PM and for the sake of the country. Not for our own interest, not for our own interest. We want to make sure the country comes out well'.