'What reformasi', Ku Li pans Anwar for not delivering on promises

Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah mocked Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for not delivering on his pledges despite championing reforms for years.

“Are there reforms? A lot of talk only (with laughter). Anwar merely said that due to anger against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad after he got sacked and assaulted (in 1998).

“So, the movement started, and people backed it. We should give him that.

“But what reforms has he done? Not one law was implemented to support it. This is not just me saying but many others too.

“Anwar said such things take time, but it has been two years since he became prime minister. Mahathir has helmed the nation twice, with BN also getting voted out but we don’t see any reforms,” he told Mingguan Malaysia in an interview.

On May 14, Anwar defended his administration against criticisms that the government was slow on reforms, saying radical change would only prompt anger and frustration.

He said this was why reforms introduced in many parts of Europe have failed.

“It’s a disaster. You assume that the elites have all the answers without even interacting with the masses. I think this is the basic flaw of the so-called elitist-democratic ideals,” he told Bloomberg TV in an interview.

However, analysts derided Anwar for his reasoning, calling it a “weak justification”.

AGC’s powers

Citing the proposal to separate the powers of the attorney-general and public prosecutor, Razaleigh criticised the lack of progress on the matter.

“Let me ask you this. When it comes to the AG and public prosecutor, must the former be the legal adviser to the government and be the public prosecutor (at the same time)?

“What we can do is separate their powers, where one provides legal advice to the government and the other takes legal action against those indicted for criminal offence but even that is not implemented.

“There are many other things (for reforms) but it’s not for me to tell. Let those who championed (reformasi) do it,” he added.

On May 8, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said the government was conducting a detailed study on the separation of powers of the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the public prosecutor’s office in Malaysia.

The study is to obtain direct evidence and best practices to identify a suitable model for the separation of powers.

"The Malaysian delegation is scheduled to attend a series of important meetings with Canadian government senior officials and to exchange views and share information and knowledge, especially in their valuable experience in successfully implementing the separation of powers of the AGC and the public prosecutor’s office almost 20 years ago.

"The officials include speaker Greg Fergus; Public Law and Public Law and Legislative Services Sector assistant deputy minister and several meetings with the director of public prosecutions," she was reported as saying during an official visit to Ottawa, Canada.

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