The cabinet has yet to make any decision on the report submitted by the independent panel that was tasked with verifying the authenticity of the scandalous 'Lingam tape'.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has appointed three cabinet members with legal training - Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Rais Yatim and Home Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad - to study the panel's three-in-one report.

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament lobby today, Nazri said the report had been sent to the chief secretary to the government and that "cabinet members have not had sight of the report yet".

"The cabinet decided that the report should be given to ministers for them to have a look and to come back to the next meeting to recommend appropriate actions," said Nazri.

Explaining that he will receive the report tomorrow, he said that adequate time must be given to the ministers to go through the report.

Nazri, who said that ministers had been briefed on the contents of the report, refused to reveal the details.

Asked whether the report will be made public, he said: "I have said in Parliament that I strongly urge the report be made public."

On Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily's report, citing sources, that all three members of the panel had recommended that a royal commission of inquiry be established, Nazri said the sources are not from the government.

"The papers are more informed... I do not know of the recommendation. I'm sure they are not our sources," he said.

He also said that the cabinet, as the highest decision-making body, will not consult the attorney-general before selecting an option in relation to the report.

The panel, headed by former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor, was formed by the government to verify the authenticity of the clip featuring senior lawyer VK Lingam in a phone conversation purportedly with then Chief Judge of Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

In an unusual move, the panel has submitted three separate reports to the government, each written by a member of the panel.

In an immediate response, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said that the prime minister would have no option but to set up a royal commission if the Sin Chew Daily report was true.

"Such a royal commission must have full and untrammeled powers to inquire into the deep-seated causes for the series of crisis of confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary...," said Lim.

'Inseparable entity'

In a separate development, Nazri said that the royalty is a part of the government in Malaysia.

Commenting on polls watchdog Bersih's intention to seek an audience with all the Malay rulers to submit their petition on electoral reform, Nazri said that it would be a "pointless effort".

"Whatever it is, whether in the Federation of Malaysia or the states, the king and the sultans are part of the government. We are an inseparable entity," Nazri claimed.

"In Malaysia, the king and the sultans are above politics. Seeking an audience with the royalty may be interpreted as dragging them into politics. The petition submitted to them will come back to us, the executive. That shows the pointlessness of doing it."

Bersih had announced that it would seek an audience with all the sultans, following its successful rally which saw some 40,000 people marching to the national palace on Saturday to submit a petition to the king's representative.


SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape