KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 ― Opposition lawmaker Ramkarpal Singh Deo called on the government today to withdraw its plans to amend the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976 to allow it to directly intervene in the management of lawyers in the peninsula.

The Bukit Gelugor MP and lawyer said persisting with its tabling in Parliament would send mixed signals after de facto law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said expressed her personal disagreement with the proposal.

"In the circumstances, I welcome Azalina's said stand and urge the government to abandon its said proposal as same certainly does not inspire confidence when the Minister who is supposed to table it in the event it comes up for debate herself does not believe in it,” Ramkarpal said in a statement.

"There can be no justification for such interference, especially when other professionals such as doctors and engineers enjoy absolute independence through the bodies which represent them.

"The same must also apply to lawyers,” he added.

The government is seeking to table a Bill proposing that the minister in charge of legal affairs appoint two government representatives to the Bar Council, to change the Bar Council’s election process and composition, and to increase the required quorum for the Bar’s general meetings.

The proposal for the LPA amendments had included giving the minister in charge of legal affairs the power to make rules and regulations on the conduct of the Bar Council elections.

The proposal was met with fierce backlash from the law community as well as another minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, pro-moderation groups such as the G25 as well as ex-presidents of the Malaysian Bar who expressed concern that the proposal to amend the LPA would empower Putrajaya to meddle with the running of the country’s biggest legal fraternity.