'It's akin to picking Dracula to audit the blood bank'

YOURSAY 'Hanif Omar thinks there are communists in Bersih 3.0 which he says was a coup attempt. He is also a former cop. How independent can this panel be?'

Ex-IGP Hanif Omar leads Bersih 3.0 probe panel

Kairos: The whole exercise of the 'independent panel' is a whitewash. The head of the panel, former inspector-general of police Hanif Omar, has certainly disqualified himself by his recent comments that the purpose of the Bersih rally was to topple the government.

This is totally preposterous and irrational given the peaceful walk and carnival-like atmosphere of the protest.

Hanif Omar is merely parroting what the PM had said earlier. He's, therefore, totally biased and prejudiced right from the start.

So, how can he head the panel? This is not acceptable to all fair and right-thinking Malaysians. Unless he is replaced, the panel has no credibility even before it begins its investigation.

Donplaypuks: What a joke! Hanif has already said Bersih is full of communists. This is like appointing Dracula as the internal auditor for the blood bank or Heinrich Himmler to head the Holocaust inquiry.

Premier Najib Razak and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein are not only going to waste our time, but also millions of ringgit of taxpayers' money.

Mushiro: By appointing Hanif to head this commission, it shows that Najib is not bothered about public perception and is not bothered about wanting to be seen to be fair.

Quigonbond: I'm fell off my chair being totally impressed with the "independent panel". Sin Chew legal head and Sinar Harian editor wouldn't give an independent analysis of events because there is still a licence revocation fear hanging overhead.

The UKM professor is probably there to do a Teoh Beng Hock RCI spin: Police driven by patriotism to act violently. Youth participants will be equated with cows - herd mentality.

The GLC (Petronas) corporate affairs GM is probably there to provide a smooth spokesperson cover for the panel, i.e. spin.

And the head of the panel himself, who's just fresh from accusing Bersih 3.0 of attempting to overthrow the government, is surely the most qualified, having vested interest being deputy chairman of a casino company.

Tidakboleh: The finding is a foregone conclusion - Hanif will conclude that his original suspicion (from a vantage point in the Genting Casino) that communists of the 1970s era have infiltrated the movement is true.

His recommendation will be to declare a state of emergency, dissolve Parliament and the country to be ruled by NOC II (National Operations Council II), headed by none other than Najib, with Dr Mahathir Mohamad as adviser.

Kangaroo: Witnesses should boycott the panel headed by Hanif as he has made biased statements against Bersih.

1Mockery: Hanif to head the "independent" panel - this is a mockery.

Please include some politicians too - Zulkifli Nordin, Hasan Ali, don't forget Ibrahim Ali. They will be the world's best independent panel in the world's best ‘democrazy'.

SK Lee: Clearly, a big mistake by the government. Suhakam should the body to carry out the investigation. This panel is not independent. There are so many biased people in it. Lawyers who are knowledgeable about laws are not included in the panel.

There is no need to investigate, we already knows what the "findings" will be.

Malaysia ABU: Why not just appoint Suhakam, which was also established by the government in the first place, and which is recognised internationally.

So the government set up Suhakam just to look good in international arena, but does not trust them to do a good job when they are needed?

Anonymous #32993250: Hanif has already prejudged the Bersih 3.0 to be communist-inspired to topple the government, so how is he capable of judging objectively?

If he is a man of principle, he would recuse himself, but then men of principle are a rare breed these days.

AkuDahUbah: One word sums it all up, credibility. After his outburst regarding the communists in Bersih, and his implicit support for the harsh police crackdown, what credibility does this man have?

The probe is sunk before it even has a chance to see the light.

Don't take us for fools. Wasn't he part of the chorus of three IGPs who claimed that Bersih 3.0 was a coup attempt? So how independent can he be?

Anonymous #60202292: The head of the independent panel to probe incidents of violence during the Bersih 3.0 rally is one who had already concluded, without basis or facts, that:

1. Communist sympathisers were involved in the Bersih 3.0 rally.
2. The tactics of using provocateurs to cause the demonstrators to clash with police and to bring children along in the hope they would get injured were tactics learnt from past pro-communist demonstrations.

3. PM Najib's claim that Bersih 3.0 was a coup d'état attempt is true.

The findings will be: The panel is unanimous that the police did not commit violence and only one police personnel lost control.

It's the communist sympathisers and provocateurs who acted violently and forced the police to react accordingly. Period.

Anomnim: Great, now they picked someone who already has a personal opinion to lead the panel.

This is turning into a meaningless and one-sided inquiry. Can we drop the word ‘independent' from the panel name?

Foodforthought: You might as well appoint Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, the Three Stooges, et al.