COMMENT | When nine MPs from his own party want a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate judicial appointments, drawing parallels with the infamous VK Lingam tape, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim must sit up and take notice.

Yesterday, at a news conference, Rafizi Ramli, who was ousted as deputy president at the most recent controversial PKR polls, led nine of the party’s MPs in calling for an RCI to be set up to investigate serious allegations related to judicial appointments.

Anwar needs to address the issues and foster public confidence in the steps he takes and the people he chooses to take the judiciary forward, dealing with key vacancies already there and coming up in the next few months.

The law is framed such that the prime minister has more power than anyone to appoint judges to the Federal Court.

He will have to take full responsibility for the consequences of his actions to ensure that confidence in the judiciary is maintained among all parties.