The National Young Lawyers committee is stepping up its efforts to garner support for its ongoing signature campaign for the repeal of Section 46A of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (LPA) which bars them from being elected as council members.

The lawyers will launch their campaign in the northern states today and committee chairperson M Moganambal said although the response has been lukewarm thus far, she expects to see more positive reaction from members of the Bar and public.

"It is an ongoing campaign and I believe in time, we will get the support we need to make this a success," she told malaysiakini.

To date the signature campaign - launched by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee on Sept 5 - has only managed to get 90 signatures. This is a dismal response given the fact that there are more than 5,000 lawyers in the capital city itself.

However, Moganambal remains optimistic.

"The figures may not be the latest. We have sent copies of the petition to the legal firms here for the lawyers to get signatures from the public and we have not collected them yet.

"Once we collect them, I am sure the numbers will be more," she said.

The lawyer added that they will be setting up a booth to collect more signatures at the Bar extraordinary general meeting (EGM) this Saturday.

The controversial EGM has been called to discuss the recent promotion of judges, which certain quarters have alleged was politically motivated and not based on merits.

'Non-thinking' body

Kedah/Perlis young lawyers committee member Lim Yang Yang is confident that the 400 members in the two states would support the campaign after it is launched this afternoon in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

"We expect to get more support from our members and the public because the issue is a very important one. We know this is not an easy task considering that even those among young lawyers are not aware of the issues involved but we will try our best.

"The support that we get from our senior lawyers here will also help us to make the campaign effective," she said.

Meanwhile, Kedah/Perlis Bar chairperson Jegadeesan Thavasu said senior lawyers welcomed the efforts undertaken by their juniors.

"There should cooperation between us (senior and young lawyers) at all times. We should never compromise our position, be it for financial, economic or social gains," he said.

He added that with such cooperation and continued efforts by the young lawyers in creating awareness on the issue, he believed that section 46A will eventually be repealed.

Another senior lawyer Darshan Singh also expressed support for the campaign, stating that Section 46A has denied the Bar Council from having "thinking and courageous lawyers" on its board.

"It has made the council into a neutered non-thinking body. All activities have to be under the aegis and control of the old foggies of the Bar Council," he said.

He alleged that the unfair provision left the field open for lawyers with personal agendas to "curry favour with the government and the judiciary with hopes to get on the Bench and for other rewards and benefits".