Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the Alor Star DAP Branch Anniversary Dinner in Alor Star on Friday, 9th September 1994 at 8 pm.
Call on IGP Tan Sri Rahim Noor to state how long Police needs before it could complete investigations into the allegation that Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Cik had an affair with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor should state how long the Police needs before it could complete investigations into the allegation that Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Cik had an affair with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
This is because it is not good for Malaysia’s international image, reputation and honour for the Rahim scandals to hang over the country, although Rahim has taken leave as Malacca Chief Minister and UMNO Youth leader pending the outcome of police investigations.
The right and proper thing for Rahim Tamby Cik to do under the circumstances is to resign as Malacca Chief Minister to allow a free, unfettered and wide-ranging police investigations to be conducted.
A caretaker Chief Minister for Malacca could be appointed to run the state government in the interim, and if Rahim is cleared by police investigations, he could return to claim his position as Malacca Chief Minister.
As Rahim Tamby Cik is still Malacca Chief Minister, although he is currently on leave – and a senior Malacca State Government official said yesterday that Rahim is on 10 days’ leave – then the Police should be under an even greater pressure to complete its investigations in the shortest time possible to end the national stain the Rahim scandals has brought to the country’s good name, honour, reputation and credibility.
The 15-year-old girl had been in sole police custody since August 30, which means when the UMNO Supreme Council met yesterday, the police had ten days to question her about the allegation against Rahim Tamby Cik.
It is only to be expected that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir would have received preliminary reports about police investigations and police questioning of the 15-year-old girl before the UMNO Supreme Council meeting yester¬day or even the UMNO Youth Exco special meeting two days ago.
If preliminary police investigations found that there is absolutely no basis in the allegation that Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Cik had an affair with a 15-year-old schoolgirl, then the decision forcing Rahim to step down as UMNO Youth Leader and Malacca Chief Minister two weeks after the issue became public by going on ‘temporary leave’ would be most unwarranted and unjustifiable.
In fact, if preliminary police investigations found that there is absolutely no basis in the allegation, then the action of the Police to keep the girl under police custody – and at first even denying her family members like her father and maternal grandmother access to her – becomes totally inexplica-ble.
In this connection, Malaysians are baffled why after two weeks since the Prime Minister ordered an investigation be conducted into the allegation, the Police had not interviewed Rahim Tamby Cik yet.
One would have thought that Rahim would have been the first or second person to be interviewed by the police in such investigations.
Attorney-General Datuk Mohtar Abdullah should explain why he is sitting on the ACA files on corruption charges against Rahim Tamby Cik.
The Attorney-General Datuk Mohtar Abdullah should explain why he is sitting on the Anti-Corruption Agency files on corruption charges against Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Cik.
The ACA Director-General, Shafee Yahya, had said on the eve of National Day that the investigation papers on ACA investigations against the Malacca Chief Minister, Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Cik, had been submitted to the Attorney-General, and the ACA is awaiting his decision.
Here, one can again, make an adverse inference against Rahim Tamby Cik. If the ACA found from its investigations that there was no case whatsoever in the corruption charges against Rahim Tamby Cik, then, the ACA would have closed the files and the matter would have ended at the ACA level – without the investiga¬tions papers going to the Attorney-General for his decision whether to prosecute or not.
When the ACA sends its investigation papers to the Attorney-General, one can infer that the ACA is of the opinion that there are sufficient grounds for prosecution to be initiated – subject to the approval of the Attorney-General.
The ACA investigations into Rahim Tamby Cik had dragged out long enough, and the Attorney-General should decide on the ACA investigation papers without any more delay.