Lawyers in the country should turn up in full force tomorrow for the Bar Council EGM.

In spite of all the verbiage to discourage lawyers from attending, our advocates and solicitors can rely on the simple truth that "it's okay to comment on the judiciary".

Such conviction comes from the Minister in the PM's Department, who is also the de facto Law Minister, Rais Yatim.

In an interview with Asiaweek (June 30, 2000) Rais offered the following wisdom:

"I would like to differ on the idea that the judiciary cannot be commented upon. There is no law against it.

"Everybody should be given the right to comment on [the judiciary] so long as it does not interfere with judicial responsibilities and functions.

"Although the (then) CJ ( Chief Justice Eusoff Chin) has branded me as one only responsible for tables and chairs, with due respect, I do know one or two things about the judiciary without having to sit on the bench. [I have] my rights as a citizen and as minister in charge of legal affairs.

"When it comes to matters pertaining to public interest, like the backlog of cases, impropriety of certain methods of doing things (like the promotion of judges? - my addition), we are free to comment."

The interview also touched on Rais' earlier comments with the Australian Broadcasting Corp during which he had envisioned a "rejuvenated" judiciary:

"Malaysian judiciary, like any other judiciary, needs to renew itself from time to time."

Rais had added that he hoped to see "a viable and robust judiciary which could take care of the onslaught of the millennium and not cling on to the so-called sacrosanct view of the past [that] you can't touch the judiciary with a 10-foot pole."

Alas, Rais should attend the EGM too. Surely, the doctor in law (albeit him having called his thesis an "academic exercise") will have much to offer to save an "ailing" judiciary.

The Star quoted Rais today as saying that the Bar council "was being disrespectful of the King in contesting the choice of judges chosen for elevation to the appellate courts in the recent promotion exercise".

Very sadly and evidently, Rais contradicts himself yet again. This time he uses a stale and silly argument in a desperate attempt to make sense. Almost everybody knows it is not the King who appoints judges in this country but the PM.

"For them to now appear before these very judges and utter honorifics like 'My Lord' or 'Yang Amat Arif' would then be very hypocritical," he said.

When one compares his stance in Asiaweek as highlighted above with his statement in the Star - it is very clear that it is Rais who is being hypocritical. He speaks with forked tongue out of political expediency and according to his whims and fancy.

Rais also challenged the Bar Council to prove that the judges chosen for promotion were without capabilities.

Besides being self-contradictory, the de facto law minister appears very confused. This is not what the Bar Council has been saying and this is clearly not the purpose of the Bar Council EGM.

This is all the more reason why Rais Yatim should attend the Bar Council EGM tomorrow.