It is sad to read the attacks against the Court of Appeal decision on Anwar Ibrahim's bail application, and of the blame placed against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his new administration for not being able to do something about this.

By doing so, Keadilan is implying that it is okay for the executive to influence the decisions of judges. This is directly opposite to what they are fighting for, namely, justice.

The bedrock of any system of justice is the concept that judges must be absolutely independent. What the new administration could have done was to withdraw the charges against Anwar. That is their prerogative.

But that is too late now as the trial is over. The blame for the judgment rests fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the three judges.

Let us hope that we have a better set of judges at the Federal court - ones who are strong, robust and who will do what is crying out to be done. Let us also hope that the least the prime minister can do is to ask the chief justice to constitute the Federal Court panel with the right judges.

This should not be interpreted as trying to influence their decision making. Keadilan should petition for a full panel.