While the Cabinet decision to make public the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip is to be applauded, one jarring note is the police report lodged by the Prime Minister’s Department against several newspapers under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for publishing earlier the findings of the inquiry and its recommendations.
Et tu Zaid Ibrahim?
Before his reprieve from the political wilderness as a result of the March 8 “political tsunami” and surprise appointment to the Cabinet, Zaid had called for a purge of the culture of secrecy “once and for all”, proposing that “official secrets” should be defined and limited to matters of “real” national security such as inter-governmental communications, information from the police and military intelligence, issues affecting public order and Cabinet minutes – “that is, where harm to the nation is actual and probable, not according to the whim and fancy of the government”.
What actual and probable harm had been done to national security or public order by the New Straits Times, the Star, Berita Harian and Sin Chew Daily and others for the publication of the findings of the Lingam Video Tape Royal Commission of Inquiry before Friday’s Cabinet decision to make the report public, as to justify Zaid Ibrahim’s directive to the Prime Minister’s Department to lodge police report against the newspapers concerned.
The police report against the newspapers also runs counter to the renewed pledge by the Prime Minister after the March 8 “political tsunami” for a more open, accountable and transparent society including the promise to introduce Whistleblowers’ Protection legislation.
Just as corruption breeds on too many unnecessary regulations, an open, accountable and transparent society is stifled by too many draconian laws like the Official Secrets Act – most of which should be repealed.
Instead of invoking the OSA, Zaid should withdraw the police report against the newspapers for performing a national service in publishing findings of the Lingam Video Tape Royal Commission of Inquiry.
It is the Cabinet which should change its mindset to keep abreast of international benchmarks and best practices common in first-world developed nations – to make public Royal Commission of Inquiry reports simultaneously as they are submitted to the appointing authorities, without having to go through the sieve or censorship of the Prime Minister or Cabinet, as they must serve the public and national interests and not the interests of any individual or even the Cabinet of the day.