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In the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, a hopelessly outnumbered General Custer, along with his Seventh Cavalry of the United States Army, was defeated by a combined Lakota-Northern Cheyenne force. Custer and his forces were outnumbered at least three to one. When the end came, it was swift, the final battle lasting only 30 minutes to an hour.

As Abdullah Badawi surveys the formidable gathering forces - Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat, Tengku Razaleigh and Mukhriz, Mahathir and Najib - on the terrain around him, he could be forgiven for wanting to dig in deep and come out fighting with a slew of reforms. Why, even Hishamuddin has apologised!

But these reforms are likely to be too little too late. For one thing, he has not delivered where it matters most. Think of the yet-to-be-formed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission, a truly independent judiciary, a fearlessly independent Election Commission, the release of the Hindraf and other ISA detainees and the repeal of repressive laws such as the ISA, the Printing Presses and Publications Act and the Universities and University Colleges Act.

The only real question now is how long he can last.

Abdullah’s second-chance reform drive
By Anil Netto

PENANG - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has mounted a rearguard fight to salvage his leadership in the face of a poor electoral showing and formidable challenges to his rule, both from within and outside his United Malays Nasional Organization (UMNO) party.

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2145: The announcement of an ex gratia payment/financial compensation has not gone down well with some of the lawyers present. There is some discussion at the dinner tables about whether it would look as if judges could be sacked and later paid off as a crude way of saying sorry. One of the lawyers asks a family member of one of the affected judges in 1988 whether the Prime Minister’s words were sufficient and the response is an emphatic “No”. Others among the lawyers say they understand Abdullah’s predicament. If he had given an outright apology, he would have come under fire from opponents within his party.

2120: Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has stopped short of an apology in his speech titled Delivering Justice, Renewing Trust. The PM says that in recognition of what the sacked judges endured in 1988 and their sacrifice, the government will make an ex gratia payment to them or to their families. He concedes that the level of trust in the judiciary is not as strong as before and says there is a need for built-in safeguards. He adds that he has taken a leap of faith by appointing an outspoken maverick as de facto law minister. Then the big news: the setting up of a commission for judicial appointments - not immediately, but in the pipeline. The salary scheme for judges will also be reviewed to attract the best legal minds to the profession.

2101: It is the PM’s turn now.

2051: Zaid Ibrahim addresses the dinner. He quotes tongue in cheek from the 1970 movie “Love Story”: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry…” Does he know what the PM is going to say?

2039: Bar Council president Ambiga is giving her speech. She acknowledges the PM’s role in loosening the tight grip on fundamental rights, a lawyer tells me. She also proposes that the original wording of Article 121(1) of the Federal Constitution be restored. And she wants the PM to look into the plight of ISA detainees.

2035: PM Abdullah Badawi arrives.

2000: Present among the 650 guests are Wan Azizah, Lim Kit Siang, Koh Tsu Koon, Salleh Abas, Dzaiddin and other judges and family members affected by the 1988 judicial crisis. Gani Patail and Zaid Ibrahim are also in attendance.

1930: The Bar Council dinner, jointly organised with the government, at the Marriot Hotel in KL gets under way. Among the guests is Samy Vellu. Lawyers murmur among themselves, “What’s he doing here?”

1800: A Singapore Straits Times report earlier today says Abdullah Badawi is expected to announce major reforms: a Judicial Commission to appoint judges, greater independence for the judiciary, financial compensation to sacked judges, and an expression of regret. We shall see. The report, however, quotes former Court of Appeal judge V C George as saying, “‘An apology or expression of regret would be sweeping everything that happened 20 years ago under the carpet… We need an investigation into the events of 1988 and to expose the conspiracy and its conspirators.”

On 27 March 2008, the MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh, wrote to former premier Mahathir about the 1988 judicial crisis. “It is not the present Government which should apologise, but you yourself personally,” wrote Karpal. “Your culpability in the events leading to the dismissal of these three judges cannot have any justification in law or otherwise.”

“The necessity for you to apologise cries to high heaven. Your acts caused the judges concerned and their families untold pain and suffering.”

Karpal said he was writing to find out whether Mahathir was prepared to tender an unqualified and unconditional apology to Salleh Abas, George Seah and the family of the late Wan Suleiman Pawanteh, “who was one of the finest judges the judiciary ever had”.

It is imperative that the spirit of Wan Suleiman be appeased, he added. “This is the least you can do in your lifetime to atone for your actions for what transpired twenty years ago.

In an extraordinary letter to Karpal on 3 April 2008, Mahathir responded with guns blazing:

YB Mr Karpal Singh

Member of Parliament, Bukit Gelugor

Yang berhormat

Thank you for your letter.

You and my other detractors will never believe me whatever I may say. You are moved by pure hatred and I cannot respond to people who can never accept reality.

My conscience is clear. I have done what was my duty and I owe nobody any apology. I am sure you will make use of this letter to dirty my name further. That is your right. I think you are the most contemptible of politicians and individuals.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

Karpal responded today in a press statement:

I stand by what I have stated in my letter. I refer, in particular, to the last paragraph of Dr Mahathir’s letter where he calls me “the most contemptible of politicians and individuals.”

As Dr Mahathir is much older to me, I do not propose to hurt his feelings in the vein by which he has described me.

I would advise Dr Mahathir to take my views in his stride. I assure him I don’t hate him.

Karpal Singh

Ordinary Malaysians can gauge for themselves Mahathir’s role in this whole sordid affair.

Why not let Tun Salleh provide an eye-witness account of what transpired. This account is based on his private notes and was reproduced in Aliran Monthly, soon after his dismissal in 1988:

When I arrived at the Prime Minister’s Department I was met by a policeman who took me by lift to a waiting room. After waiting for about two or three minutes, I was shown into the Prime Minister’s Office by an officer, whom I did not recognise. There I found YAB Perdana Menteri (then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad) seated at his table with YAB Encik Ghafar Baba, Timbalan Perdana Menteri (then deputy prime minister) and Tan Sri Sallehuddin Mohamed, Ketua Setiausaha Negara (the then chief secretary to the government) seated at the same table opposite the Prime Minister. When I entered the room I gave the Prime Minister and the others my salam very loudly and he replied my salam. (Peace be on You).

After I had taken my seat, the Prime Minister told me that he had an unpleasant duty to perform and on being asked what it was, he replied that he had been asked by (the then) DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong to tell me that I should step down. I then expressed my surprise in an Islamic way saying “Glory to God, who is free from any partnership.” Then I asked him for the reasons and in reply he said that he was not prepared to argue with me, but finally he said the reason was that I had written a letter to DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong regarding the state of relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive. I told him that I wrote the letter simply because Judges, at a meeting on 25 March 1988, had informed me that they were very concerned about the present situation and asked to express their views through me. YAB Perdana Menteri then said that I made speeches indicating that I am biased and I am not qualified to sit in UMNO cases. I told him that I said nothing of that and the speeches I had made only dealt with the criticisms levelled at the Judiciary. I am not at all biased or bipartisan in political matters. While all this was going on, YAB Encik Ghafar Baba kept his head down while Tan Sri Sallehuddin was writing in a note book, which he was then holding.

When finally I said I would not resign, he told me that if I stepped down I would be given everything that I was entitled to. I told him that I was entitled to nothing since I was not yet 60. Obviously, he was surprised when told I was not 60 yet. Finally, he said that if I did not step down he would institute a Judicial Tribunal with a view to removing me. I told him I would not resign because if I did, I could not show my face to anyone and I might as well die.

He said that I could see the Agong if I wanted to and he would not stop me from doing so.

I told him that I would not be resigning and he could do what he pleased with me, including going ahead with the Tribunal. As there was nothing else to discuss, I finally said “Datuk, I should not waste anybody’s time”, and I shook his hand, also Encil Ghafar Baba’s and Tan Sri Sallehuddin’s. None of these three looked me right in my face and I could detect Encik Ghafar Baba was strangely silent and Tan Sri Sallehuddin only caught me by the side of his eyes but he too appeared to be subdued.

The Prime Minister himself, from the beginning to the end, did not even look me in the eye. He was looking down at his table all the time.

I left his room and I only saw one policeman outside his room who appeared surprised to see me there. When I went downstairs there was nobody even to see me off and no one called for my driver. I had to go out to look for my driver.

My future is tied up with the fate of this country. I come from an unknown family and I have reached the top of my profession. I have no desire to leave until I have reached the age of 65 like my predecessors, except the Sultan of Perak, who vacated the job because of a call of duty to be the Ruler of Perak. I leave my fate to the judgment of Allah and as it is Friday, I wish to quote the Quran, which says, “No misfortune will fall on us except what has been decreed by Allah. He is our protector and in whom the believers should place their trust.” This passage from the Quran struck my heart as I entered the door of the Prime Minister’s Office and it remained with me during the course of our discussion till the end, and to my exit from his room.

You be the judge!