It is extremely sad for me to note that our de facto law minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz will most likely sweep the videotape scandal under the carpet. His justification - no witnesses dare to come forward and the previous deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim refuses to hand over the original tape.

I think he has a very poor understanding of the core issues here: that is to investigate in whatever ways most effective and bring to book, both the prominent lawyer brokering the appointment of judges and the chief justice, including all those who are implicated in the tape. Instead, he has decided to skirt the issue by harping on the lack of witnesses and the availability of the original version of the tape.

I am also very concern by the indifferent attitude of our prime minister over this matter that has grip the nation over the last few months. Both our PM and the de facto law minister, instead of confronting the issue bravely, have decided to take a defensive stance. When one take a defensive stance, it shows that one has something to hide, or worse still, seen as being part of the scandal.

We cannot deny the fact that this issue is not just being watch closely by Malaysians but also the entire world. Statements made by the de facto law minister shows poorly on how people in authority deals with such serious matter that affects the lives of all Malaysians. Making unintelligent statement like "does the public means 1,000 or 2,000 people or the whole nation? Surely 1,000 or 2,000 out of 13,000 lawyers does not constitute a majority".

The sheer fact that 2,000 lawyers decided to march is something that should have awaken his senses that something is very seriously wrong! It makes me very worried when I hear our ministers talking like that. Do we want to wait until something like the rioting in Pakistan (over the sacking of the chief justice by President Pervez Musharraf) to happen to deem the situation as serious? Come on Nazri, please wake up!

Because we live in a globalised environment, close interaction with our foreign trade partners is crucial for our country's economic survival. These foreigners doing business with Malaysia need to be assured of our judiciary's independence in the event of litigation or arbitration. The people of Malaysia also need to be assured of the same.

I think the de facto law minister is also very wrong in his assumption that nobody is talking about the crisis and claims that the crisis is in the minds of the people who created it. I suggest he logged on to cyberspace and see for himself the discussions that are going on. The majority of Malaysians know for a fact that our newspapers only publish what the government wants the people to read.

Many educated Malaysian have access to the Internet and it is here that they get to know the truth of many issues ailing the country of which this crisis in our judiciary system is only one of the many hundreds. How sad to be in this state after 50 years of independence.