What becomes of Lim Guan Eng’s corruption case?

By Muhammad Luttfi Bin Abdul Khalid

A curious event ocurred on the morning of May 21st a few days ago. It was the swearing in of Joseph Lim Guan Eng of the DAP and former Chief Minister of Penang as our new Finance Minister concurrent with the resumption of hearing for his corruption cases presently before our courts. The hearing has been further postponed to June 30th pending representations by the defence to the new Attorney-General which has yet to be appointed.

It is widely believed that the fall of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration in the recently concluded 14th General Election is attributable to the real as well as percieved widespread corruption and manifest abuse of power during its time in government. This bears relation to ideals such as justice, transparency, rule of law and integrity of the government and enforcement agencies which many Malaysians have come to expect from those in power.

Thus the rakyat naturally want to know why our newly minted Minister of Finance was sworn in despite two pending corruption charges against him. The impropriety of this move has been questioned by the likes of Cynthia Gabriel of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) and Fatihah Jamhari of the Concerned Lawyers for Justice (CLJ), among others.

Nonetheless I believe that our Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad must have his reasons for making this controversial appointment. It is after all his own prerogative as PM. I hold fast to his previous statement made on 15th May in reference to Lim’s position, namely that a person must be cleared of all pending graft charges before being eligible to become a minister of any sort in accordance with the rule of law.

Two counts

Lim is facing two counts of corruption and abuse of power during his tenure as Penang Chief Minister. The first is over his approving an application for conversion of agriculture land to a public housing zone in south-west Penang to a company, Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd.

The second pertains to the use of his position to obtain for himself a plot of land and a bungalow at 25 Jalan Pinhorn, George Town, from businesswoman Phang Li Koon for RM2.8mil, a price which he allegedly knew was not commensurate with the property’s market value at the time of RM4.27mil.

Both are being dealt with under section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and section 165 of the Penal Code respectively.

Businesswoman Phang Li Koon (centre) flanked by her lawyers

However I must say that the simultaneous occurance of his appointment and swearing in as Finance Minister with the resumption of his court case over the aforementioned charges makes for very grim reading.

Corruption remains such no matter how high or low the amount involved. Anti-corruption legislation must apply in equal measure to all without distinction as to background or position and regardless of how profound his or her influence may be amongst the general populace.

A person facing indictments for bribery under applicable laws cannot automatically, or magically as it would seem to be in this instance, be free of or free from prosecution because of a change in government or due to his or her close ties to any given administration.

We recall the prosecution and successful conviction of former Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohamad Khir Bin Toyo over the use of his position to obtain two plots of land and a bungalow unit in Section 7, Shah Alam over 10 years ago, which occured during BN rule. On no occassion was he spared the consequence of breaking the law and he was never given special treatment of any sort nothwithstanding his ties to UMNO or the administration of the time.

Is this present government which in their own words are supposedly committed to rule of law intending to use a different set of criteria or standards in the prosecution of the former Penang Chief Minister over similar graft allegations?

Justice selected is not justice served

The people are asking where is the justice that has been championed by PH all this while – to combat corruption and abuse of power in all its forms and bring those guity of the same to book?

Is this principle only applicable selectively – yes for political enemies but no for comrades in arms? Are all politicians in the PH component parties of DAP, PKR, PPBM and PAN free from the blight of bribery?

What has become of utterances for Integrity, Responsibility, Rule of Law and Justice that has been for so long repeated time and again by the leaders of these parties before this?

The ears of the rakyat desperate for the realisation of the aforementioned ideals have only been met with a deafening silence on their part as far as Lim is concerned!

The stakes have been made higher with the recent appointment of Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull – thought to be a man of integrity – as the new chief commissioner of the much maligned Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull is the new chief commissioner of MACC

We await with baited breath the outcome of the charges against Joseph Lim Guan Eng. Already his defence intend to apply to our new AG upon his or her appointment for a withdrawal of all charges against their client, citing political victimisation. The very notion smacks of hypocrisy of the highest kind.

There can be no reasonable justification for any withdrawal of charges. Such a move will only serve to enhance the perception that our laws are being selectively applied – a clear breach of our constitutional right to equality before the law and equal protection therefrom per Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.

The new AG too, should make the interests of the rakyat paramount and let only rule of law be the sole criterion for the disposal of the case, as propounded by the new PH administration themselves.

To do otherwise would be a travesty of justice and sends the wrong signal to Malaysians.

What is going on?

What exactly is the impression being conveyed to the public at large by this new government?

There have been many allegations made against the MACC, an agency tasked with the preservation of integrity and sound discharge of public duties for and on behalf of the rakyat. Is this pending withdrawal of charges against Lim Guan Eng to add to these numerous grievances against this govermental body? I sure hope not.

More remarkable is the fact that we have not heard a whimper of protest from those who before this have made such a hullabaloo over “injustices and violations of human rights” occurring right before their very eyes during the rule of the previous BN-led government.

Suddenly when it comes to their beloved Finance Minister, they keep silent and offer him their tacit support. The comment proffered by the so-called constitutional and human rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan is clear proof of shameless bias on their part.

What happened? Bee in your bonnet all this while and suddenly cat got your tongue? Been taking the talk but can’t walk the walk?

Many speak at length of the need to dispense justice without fear nor favour and that this needs to be made manifest to everyone regardless. Justice must not just be done but be seen to be done as the saying goes.

Well the indictment charges against Lim Guan Eng for allegations of corruption must be no exception to this then. Let him plead his innocence before our courts if he is indeed free of such graft as he claims.

As a concerned citizen, I call upon the Yang Amat Berhormat to resign from his post as Finance Minister until such time he has been cleared of any and all charges. Only then can he hold such an important post with a clear conscience.

The dignity of the present government will not be at all in question were he to do so. In fact, the same will only be further enhanced.

*Muhammad Luttfi Bin Abdul Khalid is the chairman of iPeguam. Views expressed herein are entirely his own and bear no relation to The Malayan in any way.

 

 May 25, 2018