Should the government set up a royal commission of inquiry into the
 
 <a href="/news/72772" target="_blank">
 'Lingam tape' scandal
 </a>
 
 , PKR wants its
 
 de facto
 
 leader Anwar Ibrahim to be consulted ahead of its formation.


 Anwar's political secretary Sim Tze Tsim told a press conference at party headquarters this morning that the Bar Council should also be consulted.


 Both PKR and the Malaysian Bar have insisted all along that nothing less than a royal commission will do to investigate allegations in the tape that have severely embarrassed the judiciary.


 <img align="left" alt="" border="0" height="146" hspace="7" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/1/99/24755.gif" style="WIDTH: 219px; HEIGHT: 146px" width="219"/>
 Instead, the government appointed a three-member
 
 <a href="/news/72824" target="_blank">
 panel of inquiry
 </a>
 
 - headed by former chief judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor - to only probe the authenticity of an eight-minute video clip released by Anwar on Sept 19. The panel submitted three individual reports last week.


 Although it has withheld its finding and recommendations, newspapers have since
 
 <a href="/news/74820" target="_blank">
 reported
 </a>
 
 source-based information that all three members have asked for a royal commission to be set up in light of the finding that the video clip is authentic.


 Sim welcomed any such move, but said the commission should be vested with sufficient powers to "make real changes to the judiciary".


 <img align="right" alt="" border="0" height="208" hspace="7" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/4/102/25726.jpg" style="WIDTH: 260px; HEIGHT: 208px" width="260"/>
 "The party demands that the government provides the commission with broader terms of reference
 
 <a href="/news/73184" target="_blank">
 compared
 </a>
 
 to that for the panel," he said.


 "We want the commission to be empowered to investigate every detail of the tape, and investigate everyone mentioned in it."


 He also said those appointed to commission should have credibility, in direct reference to the flak directed at Haidar over his
 
 <a href="/news/73234" target="_blank">
 alleged involvement
 </a>
 
 in the sacking of then Lord President Salleh Abbas in 1988 .


 
 
 'High inflation rate'
 
 


 At the press conference, PKR treasurer Khalid Ibrahim urged the government to stop giving false hope of economic development and to inform the people instead of the high inflation rate.


 He said the record crude oil price, currently at US$94 per barrel, has led to this state of affairs and that the government can no longer sweep the problem under the carpet.


 <img align="left" alt="" border="0" height="194" hspace="7" src="http://corp.malaysiakini.com/cms/ib/data/4/102/25725.jpg" style="WIDTH: 160px; HEIGHT: 194px" width="160"/>
 "The government is boasting about multi-billion ringgit economic growth corridors throughout the country. This causes the public to have high expectations of employment, due to supposed healthy economic development," he explained.


 "People will be spending freely under the illusion (of economic growth). This will create higher demand for goods and with the high oil price, inflation will skyrocket. The government must introduce some mechanism to tackle the inflation rate."


 He suggested "an effective price adjustment mechanism to stabilise petrol prices in a volatile oil market situation".


 He also said the government should stop wasting money on unproductive sectors and concentrate on augmenting the productivity of existing projects.


 "The money saved from not investing in unproductive sectors can be used to reduce the burden of the public in the form of subsidies."

Lingam tape
 

Reacting to source-based news reports that a royal commission of inquiry has been proposed, the opposition party sets out its demands.

'Consult Anwar, Bar Council on royal commission'

~RM12

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