Names of members for RCI on Thomas' book to be submitted to Agong, says Zahid

The government will be submitting a list of members for the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate Tommy Thomas' book, "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness", says Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the list would be tabled to the Cabinet by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said and for the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.

"The Cabinet approved the establishment of the RCI, but basically a task force was created, but Thomas took legal action against the members of the task force. So the basis of the details contained in the task force may be backed up by the new RCI members who have not yet been appointed.

"I feel that the law and institutional reform minister should submit a name list to the Cabinet to get the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for this RCI to speed up their work," he said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Earlier, Azalina said the government had expressed its approval for the RCI to comprehensively examine issues related to the integrity and independence of the country's judiciary and legislation.
 
Thomas' book, published in January 2021, stirred controversy when the former attorney-general in his memoir claimed to have held discussions with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad when both of them were in government, on the appointment of the chief justice, Court of Appeal president and chief justice of Sabah and Sarawak.