Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang has described the appointment of former chief judge of Malaya Haidar Mohamed Noor as head of the Lingam tape royal commission as “most disappointing”.

“Haidar is clearly not acceptable or suitable to be chairman of the royal commission of inquiry into the Lingam tape scandal in view of his disgraceful role in the 1988 judicial crisis which saw the arbitrary and unconstitutional sacking of Salleh Abas as Lord President and two Supreme Court judges, George Seah and the late Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh,” he said in a statement today.

He said today’s announcement was “a great letdown” for Malaysians who had looked forward to a new page for the judiciary.

The veteran opposition leader, who is a lawyer by training, also lambasted the restricted terms of reference for the commission which is to probe only on matters confining to the Lingam tape.

“In drawing up very restricted terms of reference ... Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has missed the golden opportunity to put right what had been wrong and rotten with the system of justice for nearly two decades.”

Apart from establishing the authenticity of the tape and identifying the person seen talking on the telephone and those mentioned in the conversation, the commission has been asked to recommend actions to be taken against these individuals should they have committed wrongdoings.

Missed golden opportunity

Lim said that Abdullah should have framed the “widest and most comprehensive terms of reference” to the commission with the mandate to restore confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

“The missed golden opportunity – which can come only once-in-a-lifetime - is felt most acutely with the brave admission by the new Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad on the rot in the administration of justice and his vow for a ‘house-cleaning’ of the judiciary.

“A royal commission of inquiry with the widest ambit to restore confidence in the judiciary would be a great ally for the new chief justice’s vow...” he added.

“Why is Abdullah backing off from such an objective – when there is a chief justice who has pledged to clean up the judiciary?”

The royal commission will be investigating the eight-minute video clip which showed lawyer VK Lingam in a telephone conversation purportedly with then chief judge of Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, discussing the appointment of judges to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court.

Ahmad Fairuz was appointed chief justice in 2003. He retired from the post on Oct 31.

Bar: Make it a meaningful one

In a statement issued later in the day, the Bar Council said that although it had hoped for a wider scope of inquiry, rather than just on the video clip, it still felt that this inquiry was a very important and necessary one.

However the council added that the terms of reference, when properly construed, gave a sufficient latitude for the commission to conduct a thorough inquiry.

“We look forward to a full, and open inquiry by the commission,” said Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan.

“It is now left to the commissioners to ensure that this inquiry is a meaningful one and that the procedures adopted by them will encourage and ensure the emergence of the truth,” she added.

She also said that the Bar Council, representing 13,000 lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia, would be making the necessary representations to assist the commission.

Anwar: Full tape to be released

In yet another immediate reaction, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim - the person who first made public the Lingam tape - said he would be consulting party leaders before commenting on the commission.

However, Anwar hinted that he would be assisting the panel should it require him to do so.

"Now that they have announced (the panel), I would in due course be releasing the full tape," he said at a press conference in his Petaling Jaya office today.

Anwar has earlier said that six minutes of the 14-minute tape has been held back to protect the identity of the whistleblowers.

Other members of the commission are former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim, former Court of Appeal judge Mahadev Shankar, former solicitor-general Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh and historian and Suhakam commissioner Khoo Kay Kim.

The commission has been given three months, or until mid-March, to complete its tasks.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape