The royal commission of inquiry into the Lingam tape has come to an end and the question in everyone’s mind is whether the commission will come up with any credible conclusions and recommendations to heal the ailing judiciary.

The commission began with various high profile personalities denying everything that was obvious to the eyes and minds of the ordinary person. It is sad that what is seen and heard by one’s own eyes and ears can be disputed by those in power by manipulating the laws. If such evidence was presented against ordinary citizens, they would have been convicted and sentenced without the need for an elaborate royal commission requiring the expenditure of thousands of ringgit of taxpayer’s money.

The allegations and the evidence of the various witnesses were extremely serious and have tremendously tarnished the integrity of the judiciary at the highest level. They have cast serious doubts on the integrity of the judiciary in the minds of the rakyat that can only be erased by its drastic revamp.

Imagine the following scenario arising from the allegations and testimony of witnesses at the commission:

• A lawyer writing the judgment for a very senior judge resulting in the plaintiff of a defamtion suit being awarded RM10 million, the highest so far for a suit of that nature.

In most democratic countries these allegations would have been sufficient to pass a vote of no confidence in the government of the day and a call for fresh elections. In Malaysia unfortunately the ruling party may not only win the election but with an increased majority because the people are fearful of losing their positions of comfort with somebody else coming into power. They prefer the economic and ‘social security’ over accountability, transparency and good governance.

The way the Lingam video scandal was handled, like all other previous scandals, was an insult to the intelligence of the people. Should we continue to accept such insults? Isn’t it a time for change? We should ponder over these questions and act wisely come March 8.

The coming election is the only opportunity for us to make known in uncertain terms our frustrations to the government we chose all these years. We must provide a stronger opposition to check the blatant abuse of power and stop them from further insulting our intelligence. We must deny them the 2/3 majority that gives them absolute power to do as they please. We must not lose this golden opportunity to put things right. If we do not act now we may never get to do it again.