Asked to explain why time expired Judges were being retained or re-hired the responsible Minister could do no better than to claim that the country could not afford to lose their expertise! By that measure no civil servant should ever be allowed to retire lest their experience be lost! No doubt this same excuse will be trotted out whenever corrupt supporters of the Najib regime, like IGP Khalid, reach retiring age.

The truth, of course, is twofold. First why buy a new lot when the bought ones are still breathing? And second the loyalty, or rather criminal disloyalty, of the bought ones is known and assured while that of new appointees would have to be ascertained and purchased all over again. Why waste stolen public money in that way when the matter can be settled by a stroke of a pen and a few lying press and Parliamentary answers? It would be nice to hear what the respective Service Commissions, established by the Constitution, have to say but we won’t hold our breath waiting.

One thing that this re-hiring process does not properly explain is why it was necessary to bring in an entirely new judge to preside over the trial of Najib’s bodyguards for the murder of the unfortunate Altantuya who made the, fatal, mistake of sleeping with the mega criminal. Would Rosmah like to offer any comment on that?