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Postmortem of the 1988 Judicial Crisis Diarist, Daim, Mahathir Owe It to the Public to Shed Light on the Mystery Surrounding the Controversy by Datuk George Seah

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Postmortem of the 1988 Judicial Crisis Diarist, Daim, Mahathir Owe It to the Public to Shed Light on the Mystery Surrounding the Controversy by Datuk George Seah PP3739/12/2005 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM4.00 / 2005:Vol.25No.3 Wan Sulaiman: His Mahathir: Certain things instructions were were done in a way they tantamount to an Order should not have been of the Supreme Court. done.done.done. Haidar: Did his conduct Harun: Why did constitute contempt of court? he approach the Diarist? PostmortemPostmortemPostmortemPostmortem ofofofof thethethethe 1988198819881988 Daim: The government had a plan? JudicialJudicialJudicialJudicialAliran Monthly : Vol.25(3) Page 1 CrisisCrisisCrisisCrisis COVER STORY Postmortem of the 1988 Judicial Crisis Diarist, Daim, Mahathir owe it to the public to shed light on the mystery surrounding the controversy by Datuk George Seah un Salleh Abas, the former Lord President of TTT the Supreme Court of Malaysia, in his book MAY DAY FOR JUSTICE opined, “I have no doubt - and few would now disagree - that it was the UMNO saga that led to my de- struction as a Judge”. We all know that the High Court Judge Harun Hashim declared UMNO illegal even though no such relief was claimed by any of the parties in the proceedings be- fore him. The plaintiffs, the UMNO 11, merely sought a decla- Harun: Why did he approach the ration that the election of the Presi- Diarist? dent of UMNO was null and void “After Harun declared UMNO il- on the simple grounds that there legal, he only sought the Diarist’s were more than 40 illegal mem- opinion on what was next. The bers present from unregistered Diarist speculated and also told UMNO branches at the time of Tun Salleh Abas what could hap- voting and the winner won by 43 pen in the event they (my empha- votes. Who was responsible for sis) persisted in their plan to have the participation of these illegal a full court hearing of the members? UMNO’s case. “Diarist” "Tun Daim Zainuddin had inti- should shed light mated to the Diarist the Govern- ment’s plan. They were simulta- Some 15 years later, following Jus- neously alarmed, sceptical and tice Harun’s death, an obituary rather naive. The rest is history. appeared in The New Straits Times (5 October 2003). The following "... Harun made more personal is an extract which makes fasci- history by handshakes than by his nating reading in hindsight: judgments or what he wrote. The Daim: The government had a plan? Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(3) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE Datuk George Seah recaptures the judicial crisis of 1988 and raises important questions: Did Tan Sri CONTENTS Haidar Mohd Noor commit contempt of court in not carrying out the order of the Supreme Court? Did the Acting Lord President, Tan Sri Hamid Omar, in- COVER STORY terfere and countermand the order of the Supreme ••• Postmortem of the 1988 Judicial Crisis 222 Court? ••• Haidar's version of events 666 Abuse of power continues until today. K George re- minds us that for all the talk, the Abdullah adminis- FEATURES tration has not lived up to its promise in wiping out ••• Corruption spreads its ugly wings 777 corruption. One disabled pensioner, N Sarangabani, ••• Bring back local council elections 999 shares his traumatic experience when police barged ••• No need for Pahang-Selangor into his home in a futile search for drugs. One way water transfer project 111111 to restore accountability, at least at the local level, is to revive local council elections, says Karpal Singh. ••• Alarm over review of paraquat ban 121212 ••• Faultlines of Malaysian But corporate interests and the whole privatisation Multiculturalism 141414 scheme still hold sway. PAN AP raises the alarm ••• Discussing “Sepet” over tau chooichooitau 191919 over government plans to review the ban on paraquat ••• Achehnese, Islam and foreigners 232323 while Koon Yew Yin argues that there is no justifi- cation for the privatised RM6 billion Pahang- ••• Obituary : Pope John Paul II 252525 Selangor water transfer project. ••• Earth: The final frontier for human rights (Part 1) 303030 New links, however, are definitely needed to bridge ••• The Wolfowitz Coup 404040 societal faultlines. Johan Abdullah urges Muslims to rethink their opposition to the Interfaith Commis- REGULARS sion of Malaysia. Wong Soak Koon reviews the ac- claimed award-winning Malaysian movie, Sepet, ••• LettersLettersLetters 33 which broke new ground in portraying the reality ••• Current Concerns 353535 of our plural society. Aguswandi reports on mis- placed apprehension in Aceh about Islam and the OTHERSOTHERSOTHERS Acehnese’s immensely tolerant perception of for- ••• Heart to heart 888 eigners. We also carry three reports critically exam- ining the legacy of Pope John Paul II, who spent his ••• Subscription Form 181818 life building bridges. A global environmental crisis is unfolding before our very eyes, warns Angeline Loh, in a timely piece, while our back cover story focuses on the furore surrouding the appointment of Paul Wolfowitz, a Published by key architect of the Iraq war, as World Bank head. Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, ALIRANALIRANALIRAN is a Reform Movement dedicated to Penang, Malaysia. Justice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on the Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197 roster of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomes Homepage : http://www.aliran.com all Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contact the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage. Printed by Percetakan Tujuh Lapan Enam Sdn. Bhd. No. 16, Lengkangan Brunei, 55100 Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(3) Page 3 irony is that though Harun rarely Court decision declaring in another way. Sometimes, cer- gave a written judgment, he be- UMNO as an illegal society? tain things were done in a way came a prolific columnist after re- they should not have been done tirement”. Perhaps the Diarist may care to or certain things done should not shed some light on these pertinent have been done.” In the construction of ambiguous questions. legal documents (save for certain “What are the certain things?” the exceptions), the Court does not The other intriquing matter al- journalist asked. consider the subsequent actions luded to in the conversation the of the party or parties. But in in- Diarist reported to have had with No, I don’t want to tell (smiles),” terpreting human conduct the ac- Tun Daim Zainuddin, who was replied Tun. tivities of the party or parties fol- UMNO Treasurer deserves our at- lowing the event is highly relevant tention. It seems that even before But without theTun’s explana- and material. the UMNO 11 appeal was heard tions one can only speculate what by the Full Bench of nine Judges the certain things are that were done We know that soon after declar- of the Supreme Court, the Govern- in a way that should not have been ing UMNO to be an illegal organi- ment had already devised a con- done! sation Justice Harun was pro- tingency plan. It would be inter- moted to be a Judge of the Supreme esting to know what the plan was Haidar’s Dilemma Court of Malaysia (Note the Dia- for the sake of posterity and who rist’s observation of Harun as a was behind the plan. Lastly, there was the interview Judge of the High Courts: Harun given by the retiring Chief Judge made more personal history by hand- Mahathir’s cryptic of the High Court in Malaysia, Tan shakes than by his judgments or what remarks Sri Justice Haider Mohd Noor, he wrote. The irony is that ... Harun which was published in The New rarely gave a written judgment). Another interesting revelation Straits Times (7 November 2004). was unearthed following the re- The retiring Chief Judge was re- Harun SCJ was nominated as a tirement of Tun Mahathir ported to have said: third member of the Kota Baru ses- Mohamad, when he was inter- sion of the Supreme Court in July viewed about his retirement by a “As for the most memorable mo- 1988 by Acting Lord President journalist who wanted to know: ment in his career, he cited the Tan Sri Abdul Hamid in spite of impeachment of former Lord the fact that more senior Judges “Does that mean you are much President Tun Salleh Abas in like Tan Sri Mohd Azmi, Tan Sri happier now?” Tun replied, 1988. As the Chief Registrar of the Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan “Well, happy in a way, not happy Supreme Court, I was very much Hamzah were available. informed of the action taken. At the tribunal against the five judges Following his retirement from the of the Supreme Court, I was the Supreme Court Judge, Harun was star witness. given an academic appointment in the International Islamic Uni- “It was a very tough time for me versity, which he held until his because on one side, Tan Sri Wan sudden death in a heart attack. Sulaiman Pawan Teh was threat- ening me with contempt if I did This background information not follow his order, and on the raises some interesting questions: other side, Tun Hamid Omar was assuming the power of LP and • Why did Justice Harun ap- directed me to act otherwise. proach the Diarist after the Court case? “When I was called up, I said that • Was the Diarist privy to some I was only a civil servant and it information as to what would Mahathir: Certain things were done in a was not for me to question the happen following the High way they should not have been done. Acting LP’s order. Tan Sri Wan Aliran Monthly : Vol.25(3) Page 4 Sulaiman said he could cite me for Registrar of the Supreme Court contempt and I said if I had to go cannot take it upon himself that to jail, I would.” the administrative directive of the Acting Lord President can over- Readers would recall that Tan Sri ride the Order of the Supreme Haidar Mohd Noor was the Chief Court.
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