DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang has suggested more names to be considered as members of the royal commission of inquiry into the controversial issues raised in the 'Lingam tape'.

In a statement today, Lim cited names from the legal and non-legal circles who are "eminently qualified" to serve on the royal commission.

They include former Transparency International Malaysia president Tunku Abdul Aziz, former Bar Council presidents Raja Aziz Addruse and Yeo Yang Poh, former United Nations special rapporteur for independence of judges and lawyer Param Cumaraswamy and senior lawyer Chooi Mun Sou.

This list supplements several candidates he had named earlier.

He said the royal commission should be headed by Perak Regent Dr Raja Nazrin Shah or ideally his father Sultan Azlan Shah, who was lord president "during the golden era of the Malaysian judiciary a quarter of a century ago".

According to Lim, the commissioners should come from a representative cross-section of the society including former members of the judiciary - such as former chief justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, former Court of Appeal judges Shaik Daud Ismail and NH Chan, and former High Court judge Visu Sinadurai.

Those who should not be called up, he said, are three former chief justices Ahmad Fairuz, Eusuff Chin and Hamid Omar - "because of their controversial past which should be among the subjects of the inquiry".

The opposition leader's suggestions comes ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting tomorrow, which will decide the commission's terms of reference before finalising the commission members.

Lim said this process is "quite ominous" because the whole process of establishing the commission of inquiry seems to have been made without any consultation on its terms of reference or composition.

The decision to set up a royal commission came almost two months after the explosive eight-minute tape was made public on Sept 19.

The video has caused an uproar in the legal fraternity and has cast doubts over the judiciary's independence.

The video clip, released by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, allegedly depicts prominent lawyer VK Lingam in a conversation brokering judicial appointments with then Chief Justice of Malaya Abdul Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, who later rose to become chief justice - the nation's highest judicial post.

Ahmad Fairuz's tenure as chief justice expired last month and his service was not extended.