KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has clarified issues related to judicial appointments during a meeting with Barisan Nasional MPs, BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
According to Free Malaysia Today, Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minisster, said the matter was among the issues raised during the one-hour meeting on Friday.
“The king would take into account the personality and background of the prospective appointee when deciding on the matter and we should respect the decision,” he told reporters after opening the Selayang Umno divisional meeting in Sungai Buloh.
BN believes the appointment of the chief justice must remain above politics, Zahid said.
He also said BN believed that any royal commission of inquiry into judicial appointments would contradict the government’s stance, as stated by law and institutional reform minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
Azalina previously said the government would study the best practices of other countries in appointing judges, with preliminary comparative research to be conducted involving the systems in the UK, India, Australia and Singapore.
The chief justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and the president of the Court of Appeal Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim have both recently retired.
Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Hasnah Hashim is now serving as acting chief justice, while Federal Court judge Datuk Zabariah Yusof is the acting Court of Appeal president.
