By Parliament Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 7.10.1987:
DAP calls on Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to the Independence of Judiciary as a cardinal principle of the Malaysian Constitution.
Recently, during his tours to the various States speaking to UMNO officials and members, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, seemed to be more critical of the judiciary than he had ever been in the past, or had ever been done by the previous three Prime Ministers.
This has raised concern among informed circles about the commitment of the government to the principle of the Independence of the Judiciary.
The country is making great efforts to bring about economic recovery, and for this to succeed, it is essential that the protracted crisis of confidence be resolved.
The crisis of confidence will reach a new height if there should be any belief that the government’s commitment to the principle of the Independence of Judiciary has weakened.
For this reason, I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to the Independence of the Judiciary as a cardinal principle of the Malaysian Constitution. Such a reaffirmation by the Prime Minister before he leaves on Saturday for the sixth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Vancouver, Canada will give assurance to Malaysians that the government’s commitment to the Independence of Judiciary had not changed.
Call on Work Minister, Datuk Samy Vellu, to give an assurance that the six-hour traffic jam at the Sungei Besi toll plaza Sunday will not recur or he will resign as Works Minister
On last Sunday, the first Sunday in the implementation of the closed toll system, there was a six-hour traffic jam at the Sungei Besi toll plaza, with motorists inching their way for 6 km from Kajang interchange to the toll plaza. More than 25 cars either ran out of petrol or stalled.
On Sept. 1, there was a similar jam when there was a trail of the closed-toll system, and at that time, the authorities described it as a “freak incident”
From Sunday’s six-hour traffic jam, it would appear that such “freak incidents” may become normal features of the closed toll system.
I call on the Work Minister, Datuk Samy Velu, to give an assurance that the six-hour traffic jam at the Sungei Besi toll plaza last Sunday will not recur in future and in particular in the coming Sunday, or he will resign as Work Minister.
It is akin to madness where a motorist could never cover the Seremban-KL section of the highway in 30 minutes, and yet to take one hour to clear the Sungei Besi toll plaza. It would appear that Datuk Samy Vellu had succeeded in devising a system whereby the motorist can travel faster but arrive much later than the present route.