The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Whole Truth

The authorities seem to be upset that some people are questioning the way the public inquiry into the “Squatgate” scandal has been conducted.

After all there have been allegations that the identity of the victim was “covered” up as the government was afraid that it would lose more Malay votes in the Kelantan by-elections as the video of the naked victim became public knowledge a few days before polling day.

Looking at the title of the public inquiry, the Commission of Inquiry into the Standard Operating Procedure, Approaches or Regulations in the Handling of Body Searches in Connection with Arrest and Detention by the Police, it seems that the inquiry has been restricted to the practices that occur in police lock-ups and not the chronology of events of this particular incident.

It had earlier been reported that the police knew about this case sometime in June 2005 and an investigation was started. It seems incredulous that when the scandal became public knowledge, very few in the upper echelons of government were aware of what had occurred.

Asking the public to be patient very often each time a public inquiry has to be conducted cannot replace executive action that should have taken place months ago.

We cannot run a country waiting on the results of a public inquiry every three months.