DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh’s pursuit of newly-minted Chief Justice Zaki Azmi continued today, with the veteran politician turning to the royalty for help.

dap karpal singh In a statement, Karpal (right) - also the Bukit Gelugor MP - expressed hope that the Conference of Rulers will review their endorsement of Zaki as the judiciary’s No 1 after he apparently admitted to corrupt practices while in private practice.

“It was on the recommendation of the prime minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) that Zaki was endorsed as the CJ by the Conference of Rulers, who acted bereft at that time, of the public admission of corrupt practices by Zaki,” said Karpal.

“It is imperative, in fact, by the Conference of Rulers in the public interest to review their endorsement of Zaki as CJ.”

Audio recording of confession?

He further argued that Zaki should not hold the post until a police probe is completed.

“Pending police investigations over my report , Zaki should not sit in the Federal Court as any decision made by him will be of no consequence in the event that he is convicted for corruption.

“This is the first case where a CJ has publicly admitted corrupt practices and sought refuge in silence. Public confidence in the judiciary will be radically eroded if Zaki insists on acting as CJ and make decisions which may well affect life and liberty.”

zaki azmi and malaysia palace of justice judiciary Karpal launched his attack against Zaki (left) after the latter was quoted in a New Straits Times report in which he recounted his experience of ‘bribing’ court employees during his days as a practising lawyer.

“It took me six months to be nice, to bribe each and every individual to get back into their good books before our files were attended to,” Zaki was quoted as saying when delivering a speech at a convention in Kuching.

“That was my personal experience and I am telling this to all the clerks and all the registries to stop this nonsense.”

Zaki issued a clarification later, saying the reporter had misinterpreted him.

So far, Karpal has lodged a police report against Zaki and tried in vain to get Parliament to debate the matter.

He has also claimed there is an audio recording of Zaki’s confession but has yet to make it public.