COMMENT | It strikes me (and I believe many others) as rather silly that this government headed by Pakatan Harapan, yes the same coalition that was in power when Tommy Thomas was attorney-general, has decided to accede to Umno pressure and launch a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Thomas’ book.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, from Umno, said the RCI will have a broader scope than the task force’s (formed to investigate the book) recommendations simply does not cut ice.

If this RCI is to make a broad recommendation on law reform, and lord knows that is really needed, why call it an RCI to investigate Thomas’ book? Why not a commission on law and institutional reform and simply mention that allegations and comments made in Thomas’ book will be taken into account? Why put the cart before the horse?

Azalina specifically mentioned that the cabinet has agreed to a proposal for the setting up of such an RCI. An RCI for a book? That is really too much, especially since Thomas was AG during the time when Harapan was in power from 2018-2021.

The announcement of the RCI comes too suspiciously close to...