The Prime Minister, in an unprecedented move, hosted a dinner for the lawyers for the 14th Malaysian Law Conference last night where he delivered his keynote address.You can read a report outlining the main points he made but focusing on one aspect of his speech, the Prime Minister made a veiled criticism of the Bar’s Walk for Justice. An extract of what he said:“As a body whose opinion is widely respect not just locally, but internationally as well, the Bar Council must recognise the repercussions of its actions with regard to the recent Putrajaya march. I would first take the view that a public demonstration is not like any other public social event. A demonstration gives the impression that a problem has reached an intractable impasses, even when, in reality, it has not.

Above and beyond this, it also sends negative vibes to domestic and foreign investors … The creation of negative perception, through over-reaching and unfounded public accusations, is difficult to overcome.”

As I was scribbling down his words, I was disappointed with the position taken by our Prime Minister. But I guess I should not be surprised, especially in light of the statements generally made by the government, especially from our de facto law minister, Nazri. (you really must read this transcript of his interview on Sunday). The government disagrees, in fact it can be said that the government is very unhappy with the march staged by the Malaysian Bar. It appears that the revelations from the Lingam videotape remains mere “unfounded public accusations”.