Malaysia’s judicial crisis: Anwar’s party members want him to ‘clear the air’

Senior Malaysian lawmakers are calling for both a royal inquiry and a parliamentary investigation into Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over alleged irregularities in judicial appointments, warning that such actions risk plunging the country’s judiciary into scandal once again.

Last week, Anwar’s administration declined to extend the tenure of widely respected chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim. This leaves the future leadership of the nation’s top courts in limbo as four more senior judges are set to retire by year’s end.

Top lawmakers have accused Anwar of being slow to act despite the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) having already nominated candidates to succeed the two top judges and submitted its recommendations to the prime minister.

On Monday, nine backbenchers from Anwar’s People’s Justice Party (PKR), led by former economy minister Rafizi Ramli, called upon the two institutions to summon the prime minister to “clear the air”, warning that the controversy had now escalated into a crisis.

“The biggest issue that the public should be worried about is the integrity of the judiciary,” Rafizi said. “You cannot bury your head in the sand; it will not go away.”

Standing alongside him were former environment minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and other senior PKR lawmakers.