Tuesday, 10-Feb-2004 2:30 PM

Malaysian Government groping for excuses

It is as clear as night is to day. Today, at the Shah Alam High Court, the Malaysian Government was at a loss to explain why the word “keadilan” cannot be used in the “Parti Keadilan Rakyat” name.

The hearing, which was supposed to have been held today, had to be postponed until 29 March 2004 to allow the government time to file its Affidavit explaining why the word “keadilan” is deemed “unsuitable”. The fact that the word is already being used in the Parti Keadilan Nasional name, and all it wants to do is to now change its name to Parti Keadilan Rakyat, makes it even more difficult for the government to justify its decision.

How come the word “keadilan” is okay if used in Parti Keadilan Nasional but is not okay if it is used in Parti Keadilan Rakyat? Is there a logic hidden somewhere that only the Registrar of Societies can see while it has escaped all us lesser mortals?

After many, many months of what should have been enough time to prepare a simple Affidavit to merely explain the “unsuitability” of the word “keadilan”, the attorney representing the Registrar of Societies informed the court that they needed more time. Just yesterday have they been able to discuss the matter and they are yet to make a decision as to what reply they are going to offer.

Even the judge looked up, bewildered that they are still not ready after such a long time. What was even more perplexing is the implied statement that they are still discussing as to what to reply.

In other words, they do not yet have that reply. If this were so, this would then mean they rejected the use of the word in the name without any valid reason and only now are they groping for that “reason”. Therefore, time is required while they search for this reason.

Well, if what is rumoured is true, the next general election may be called around 20 March. The new hearing date is 29 March. This would mean keADILan would need to go to the polls as the “old” Parti Keadilan Nasional instead of the “new” Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Either way, the ruling party would have succeeded in denying the party to face the coming election as a merged party -- a merger between Parti Keadilan Nasional and Parti Rakyat Malaysia.

The attorneys representing keADILan requested, in light of the looming general election, that an early date be allowed for the hearing, say in two weeks time or so. The judge said that this is not possible due to the tight court calendar. The instructions from higher-up is that all pre-2000 cases must be dispensed with first and there are still cases as far back as 1995 that are yet to be cleared.

Further to that, even if they did set an early hearing date, the case will still not be settled before the general election anyway. The case will drag on for months. Then there will be the appeal at the Court of Appeal followed by the appeal at the Federal Court. All told, the entire episode could drag on for three years or more.

In short, even if keADILan wins its case, it will only be able to use the name and face the voters as a merged party in the 12th General Election around 2009 or thereabouts.