With due respect to the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform), I strongly disagree with the move by the present government in initiating a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas' memoir My Story: Justice in the Wilderness.
In my view, the government should not waste any public fund by establishing the RCI against the former attorney general who, in my view, had contributed a lot to the nation in bringing those who had allegedly ruined our economy to the court of law whereas his predecessors miserably failed to do the same.
Despite the fact 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) was the crime of the century and originated from Malaysia, what we notice is that prior to Thomas' leadership at the AG's chambers, the real culprit was never criminally charged in court as if he could commit such an heinous crime with impunity!
After all, the current prime minister has recently conceded that our beloved nation is presently incurring a trillion of debt. Is such trillion of debt coming out of nothing?
Maybe the relevant minister of law may confirm to the nation that 1MDB and corruptions have nothing at all to do with such a colossal debt being unnecessarily incurred?
This new government, in my view, should never send any mixed or wrong messages to prospective investors — foreign and domestic — by pursuing the "perceived" vendetta against our former AG.
Like it or not, Umno cannot run away from the negative perception that the RCI has to do with the party's overzealousness in pursuing the "perceived" vendetta against Thomas.
After all, a dozen Umno leaders were indicted when Thomas assumed the office of AG.
It is common knowledge that the party has been vocal against Thomas since the day he was appointed as the AG. In his latest speech at the Umno Assembly, the chief youth of Umno recommended all the Umno leaders — who were charged by Thomas — to file civil claims against Thomas if they have been acquitted by the court. Such civil claims are known in law as torts of malicious prosecution.
The government should avoid, at all cost, being dubbed as the enemy of freedom of speech and expression by agreeing to the establishment of the RCI against Thomas' book.
A punishable freedom is no longer considered a genuine freedom. It would render such a freedom as ineffective, meaningless and illusory.
If at all Thomas' book contains any criminal elements therein, the country has necessary tools to bring him into justice in accordance with the law.
Yes, this is a unity government, but it should not be viewed as if PH has no role at all therein.