Kes Tun Salleh Abas: Zaid mau tunjuk ‘hero’ dan sudah lupa kenyataan 1991?

Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Hal Ehwal Undang Undang) Senator Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim, dalam kenyataan ulungnya meminta Kerajaan Malaysia memohon maaf kepada mantan Ketua Hakim Negara Tun Mohamed Salleh Abbas kerana kes mengakibatkan beliau dipecat oleh DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong pada 1988. Walaubagaimanpun, cadangan ini ditolak oleh rakan Kabinet lain.

Kini arkib telah membuktikan bahawa beliau sebenarnya sudah lupa atas kenyataan yang beliau sendiri buat mengenai kes yang sama pada tahun 1991, dimana beliau merupakan salah seorang peguam yang diupah oleh UMNO, terutama selepas UMNO diharamkan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur pada 4 Februari 1988.

Ini dipetik dari Bernama:

Publication: BM

Edition: TE

Date: 10/11/1991

Headline: Peguam minta sidang agung khas

Text:

Kuala Lumpur: Beberapa orang peguam akan mengemukakan notis kepada Majlis Peguam minggu depan supaya diadakan mesyuarat agung khas menarik balik resolusi hilang kepercayaan mereka kepada Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Hamid Omar.

Seorang daripada mereka, En. Zaid Ibrahim, berkata notis itu perlu bagi mendapatkan persetujuan sebilangan tertentu anggota Majlis Peguam bagi mengadakan mesyuarat khas selaras dengan peruntukan Akta Profession Guaman. Katanya, setelah tiga tahun, sudah sampai masanya resolusi itu dinilai semula dalam suasana yang lebih tenang sekarang, berbanding dengan keadaan yang berlaku ketika itu.

Resolusi itu dibuat berikutan pemecatan Tun Salleh Abbas sebagai Ketua Hakim Negara dan diganti dengan Tun Hamid Omar. “Sebagai peguam, mereka seharusnya bersikap positif dalam membuat penilaian terhadap perkara ini”, kata En. Zaid, yang juga perwakilan UMNO dari Kota Bahru ketika ditemui dalam Perhimpunan Agung UMNO, di Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra di sini semalam.

Sementara itu, tindak-tanduk Majlis Peguam yang memburuk-burukan kerajaan kepada dunia luar terus mendapat kecaman perwakilan yang berucap membahaskan usul mengucapkan terima kasih terhadap ucapan Presiden semalam – Bernama

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Ini pula laporan NST, atas isu yang sama:

Date: 06/11/1991

Headline: Bar Council told to end feud with Tun Hamid

Byline: Azmi M. Anshar

Text:

Kuala Lumpur, Tues. – The Muslim Lawyers Association has urged the Bar Council to end its “feud” with Lord President Tun Hamid Omar in the interest of the nation and the legal profession. Its President, Zaid Ibrahim, said the Bar Council should dissolve itself of have its members quit en masse if it could not accept and respect Tun Hamid as Lord President. Referring to the still valid vote of no-confidence adopted by the council on July 9, 1988, against Tun Hamid, he said the association should end its “obsession” with detecting perceived “flaws” within the Judiciary.

He said the council in paying too much attention to the rift with Tun Hamid had neglected Section 42 (1L) of the Legal Profession Act which states that the council must promote good relations and social intercourse with its members and other persons in the administration of law and justice in the country.

En. Zaid said the Government would have to seriously consider setting up an alternative legal body that could work with the Judiciary if the rift was not settled. “Lawyers get their practicing certificates signed by Tun Hamid and yet they cannot respect him. The situation has reached ridiculous proportions,” he said in an interview with New Straits Times. “Its time for a review of the three-year motion againstTun Hamid with the aim of having it annulled accordingly. The Bar Council must get its perspective right or risk jeopardizing its existence.”

The Bar Council initiated the vote of no-confidence motion against Tun Hamid after the suspension of five Supreme Court judges for their role in actions pursued after the sacking of Tun Salled Abbas as Lord President in 1988.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, in referring to the sacking and the suspensions, had stated he had proof that the Bar Council had been spreading lies abroad on the matter.

To prevent further acrimony between the Judiciary and the Bar Council, En. Zaid proposed the formation of a Malaysian Law Academy that will promote and maintain high standards of conduct and learning in the legal profession. The academy should be administered by a senate chaired by the Lord President and its members comprise Supreme Court judges, the Attorney General, president of the Bar Council and other relevant bodies, Dean of law faculties at local universities and others deemed fit to be part of the body.

Meanwhile Bar Council president Manjeet Singh said Justice Minister Syed Hamid Albar was entitled to opinion is asking the Bar Council to apologise to the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for allegedly making allegations against the country’s judiciary abroad.

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Kenapa sekarang lain pula bunyinya? Ramai melihat Zaid Ibrahim cuba berlagak ‘hero’ setelah diberikan jawatan Kabinet, walaupun tidak dicalonkan dalam Pilihanraya Umum XII pada 8 Mac 2008, setelah menang kerusi Parlimen Kota Bahru pada Pilihanraya Umum XI 21 Mac 2004 dan tidak diberikan apa apa jawatan. Ini dikuatkan dengan cadangan seperti undang undang anti-lompat parti dan kajian semula atas undang undang tubuh negeri, apabila berlaku krisis perlantikan Menteri Besar seperti di Perlis dan Terengganu. Ini belum diambil kira ‘janji’ Zaid untuk ‘membersihkan’ Kehakiman dalam tempoh enam bulan!

Melayu terpelajar dan professional macam Senator Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim, rakankongsi terbesar firma guaman paling besar dalam Malaysia ini pun mudah lupa?