PAKATAN Harapan will form a bipartisan committee to vet the appointments of top-ranking officers in the civil service if it wins Putrajaya, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The opposition coalition chairman said the pact wants to ensure transparency in these appointments and the move is consistent with the reforms it wants to introduce should it take over Putrajaya at the next elections.

“The candidate can be vetted by the opposition like the post of attorney-general, inspector-general of police or the Public Accounts Committee chairman.

“We will welcome the opposition to participate in government business,” said Dr Mahathir today at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.

The pact will also look at the role of the parliamentary speaker whom, he said, did not always appear to be fair.

“We will have a speaker that is subjected to bipartisan choice. The speaker can no longer act as he pleases by rejecting certain questions which reflect badly on the government in power.”

Though not discounting the possibility of amending the constitution to carry out its plans, Dr Mahathir said PH will find ways to avoid doing so.

“We may have to amend it. But if possible, we do not want to. We will find ways to implement our ways.” 

When pressed why these reforms were not carried out when he was in power, Dr Mahathir said his government obeyed the law, unlike Najib’s administration.   

He said a separation of power was needed to ensure the government been seen fair and transparent.

“The prime minister, representing the legislature, cannot have control over the executive or the judges, like in the recent incident where a retired judge retained his post. This has got to stop.”

Dr Mahathir did not specify the incident he was referring to, but Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif was supposed to retire in August last year, but was appointed an additional judge in the Federal Court despite reaching retirement age in July last year.

Judges are supposed to retire at 66 year and six months.

The extension of Raus’ service has been criticised by the Malaysian Bar as unconstitutional. 

The last time there was the judiciary turmoil was when the Dr Mahathir government fired five top judges in 1988. – February 6, 2018.