LET'S CONTINUE TO FIGHT EACH OTHER UNTIL GROUND ZERO

Point 1. I AM fed up with all the articles which are in circulation now trying to implicate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PMX) for ALMOST EVERYTHING, including the commutation of disgraced former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

Even though there are so many good explanations given by people such as the above by a senior lawyer, Datuk Kenny Ng, people still put on their blinkers and prefer to be led by the nose hook.

I am glad to quote my friend, Kenny. I think his summary is very succint. He has hit the nail on the head. People can call him and others who disagree with them as 'Anwar's barua' but I sometimes want to ask, whose barua do they belong to then?

Constitutionally what AI said is entirely correct.

The prosecution by the AGC represents the action of the Executive whereas the trial of Najib was the action of the Judiciary independent from the Executive.

Once justice finally ends at the Judiciary, then mercy begins with the King as the fountain of mercy, independent of both the Executive & Judiciary. This is one of the residual independent prerogatives of the King which he can exercise them without the need to act on the advice of the PM or relevant minister under the pertinent Act of Parliament.

Under Article 42 on the right of the King to grant a pardon no doubt it stipulates that the King shall act on the advice of the Pardons Board (PD).

But then the PD consists of the AG & FT Minister who are both from the Executive whereas the other 3 members are appointed by the King himself in his absolute discretion & with the King to preside over the PB itself. In short the King is in total control of the PB as the exclusive domain & jurisdiction of the King, totally independent of the other 3 branches of government.

So the decision of the King based on the advice of the PD is in fact the decision of the King himself though for reason of being wise the King will listen to the input of all the members in the PB before making his final decision which the Executive, the Judiciary & the Legislature cannot question & intervene.

This is all part & parcel of constitutional check & balance of powers in our system under the Doctrine of Separation of Powers. The Executive cannot be the prosecutor of Najib in the first place, and then having successfully done so through the independent Judiciary, thereafter requiring Najib to plead his prosecutor the Executive for mercy when in the first place it was the Executive which was his original prosecutor.

Doesn't make sense at all right? And certainly most unfair if that's the case. Simple as that if one works it out and understands it instead of consuming with much indignation and sense of self-righteousness by many without a sound basis for those passions. My 2 sen's worth ya? Cheers!

Point 2: Besides this explanation by Kenny, there is also an explanation by another legal eagle, GK Ganesan, which explains very well about the Pardons Board. The only statements that I beg to differ with Ganesan are these two lines:

"The FT Minister, the AG and the three nominees are, likely, Government nominees.

"And so, in the end, the King will accept the advice of the Cabinet, which has control over the minister, the AG and these members."

I am afraid that Ganesan is making the assumption that the other three appointees besides the Attorney General (AG) and the Minister in the Prime Minister in charge of Federal Territories, are also governmnet appointees.

The Federal Constitution is very clear about these three royal appointees. I am not sure if these three royal appointees were made during Anwar's tenure as Prime Minister, but the Agong is not obliged to accept the advice of the Cabinet especially on the three royal appointees. It is His Majesty's sole prerogative.

That is why I do not agree with Ganesan on this point, but while we can agree to disagree, I think his explanation in this post dated October 30, 2022 is an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to understand how the Pardons Board is set up and how it functions.

The AG, for example, advises the Agong on the legality issues. In this case, I believe it was the AG who advised the Agong on the gravity of Najib's case, which explains why Najib did not get an unconditional pardon. An unconditional pardon for someone who was found guilty on all counts will make a mockery of the Judiciary system.

Dr Zaliha Mustafa, in her capacity as the only member of the cabinet, who sat on the Pardons Board is basically the "odd one out" with four non-politicians against one. Agong himself is above politics. Yes, while Agong can independently listen to the advice of the Prime Minister, do you think Agong cannot make his own decision? Come on lah... I find it hard to believe that people have lost their ability to reason things out when they become too emotionally involved in this matter.

Point 3: Right from 2018, I have always said that Pakatan Harapan is not perfect. Anwar is not perfect, he is human, and he errs just like anyone else.

I have always maintained my point that many people are having too much expectation on Anwar and PH to overturn 60 years of systemic conrruption in this country.

For that, I have to give credit to Anwar that it is only during his tenure that now we have some big fishes in the dragnet. Before this, everyone thinks that the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) only focused on small fries, but now, are they not going after the big fish?

What a contradiction I now see when people are calling for MACC Commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki's resignation. While I agreed with those loud hailers previously, I now see that Azam is doing a big favour for the country. In the courts, we are allowed to turn a criminal into a prosecution witness, yet we cannot accept that Azam is doing a fine work to fight corruption. This is why I am speaking out (even against people I consider as my friends and comrades).

We need to stand united for now with Anwar and make the best of the time to rectify whatever that can be rectified, while at the same time, be pragmatic about what can be done for now, and what still needs to be done when the time is right.

For now, people can flog Anwar and ask him to reform the Pardons Board, but do you know what is involved? To reform the Pardons Board, he would have to amend the Federal Constitution, he needs two-thirds majority, yet people are making all sorts of allegations including "buying" the Perikatan Nasional MPs who swung their support towards him.

Mind you, before Anwar can table this reform in Parliament, he would have to get the consent of the Conference of Malay Rulers. Perhaps, Anwar can appoint one of our legal eagles to speak on his behalf to the state rulers, and if this appointee fails to convince the rulers, we shall crucify the appointee, shall we? In fact, that is what I see people are doing to Anwar. They expect him to perform the supernatural.

So, you can please dream on, the chances of this amendment is going to be pushed through is slim unless the time is right, but I think there are more important issues for him to address on for now.

Even putting some of our best activists to form the Executive branch of the governement post GE-16, we will not be sure that these same people can run the country any better than the pirates of the Caribbeans in the past. They are focused on specific agenda, but will not be able to look at the whole picture.

This country needs a reset. But, to do this, we need to be patient and remain united, and not behave like the five blind men, each having his own idea of how the elephant in the room looks like. Yes, I do whack our politicians especially when something is simple enough and they do not have the political will to do it, but a lot of things need time.

If we continue to fight each other, at the end of the day, it is the mastermind and puppet master who will pitch us against each other. He has done this before in the past, and he can do this again just to save his own children. PERIOD,