by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Penang on Sunday, 15th May 1994:
Law Minister Hamid Albar should advise Tun Hamid to resign as Lord President in view of serious allegations of improper and injudicious conduct to protect the good name of the Judiciary
I would advise the Law Minister, Datuk Syed Hamid Albar, not to make uncalled-for and unwarranted remarks about the. DAP in connection with the serious allegations of improper and injudicious conduct which had been made against the Lord President, Tun Hamid Omar in the recent Parliamentary meeting.
I must deny and rebut the charge made by Hamid Albar yesterday suggesting that the DAP had wanted to politicise the issue. I must declare that the DAP has no intention whatsoever to become the prosecutor, the investigator and judge all at the same time.
The independence of the judiciary is a fundamental principle in our system of government which rises above party politics, and all Malaysians regardless of party affiliation must be greatly concerned when this principle comes under threat from whatever the quarter.
Hamid Albar is only causing more confusion when he said yesterday that his statement that it was inappropriate for members of the judiciary to meet litigants had been twisted to mean improper conduct.
Is Hamid Albar now defending as ‘not improper conduct’ the meeting of Lord President, Tun Hamid Omar with MBf Holdings chief executive Tan Sri Loy Hean Heong, in his chambers on March 24, at a time when the company was involved in a Supreme appeal concerning the two-year jail sentence of DAP MP for Bintang, Wee Choo Keong, for contempt of court?
Wee Choo Keong has lodged a report with the ACA for another improper conduct of Tun Hamid Omar, and it is for the ACA to decide whether there is basis or not in the allegation.
However, in the interests of the good name and public confidence in the judiciary, Hamid Albar should advise Tun Hamid Omar to resign as Lord President in view of the serious allegations of improper and injudicious conduct to protect good name of the Judiciary and to retain public confidence.
For the record, I had called for the resignation of Tun Hamid Omar as Lord President in Parliament last Thursday for the good of the judiciary.
Furthermore, in view of the serious allegations of improper and injudicious conduct, it would also be most inappro¬priate for Tun Hamid Omar to be involved in any way in the formu¬lation of the Code of Ethics for Judges which had been passed by the Dewan Rakyat last week.