PUTRAJAYA, May 16 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has backed calls to form a second Malaysian Bar as an alternative for lawyers who disagree with the present Bar Council’s alleged pro-opposition stand.

The former prime minister questioned its impartiality, saying that "it is quite obvious" that the Bar Council has become more concerned with political issues instead of legal ones.

"A professional organisation should concentrate more on the profession but it is quite obvious that the Bar Council has become a political party.

"If that is going to be what the Bar Council is concerned about then it should become political party," he told reporters here.

Because of this, Dr Mahathir said that "other organisations" should be allowed to take up the Malaysian Bar's role.

"Let other organisations take up the professional side...Next we'll have the MMA (Malaysian Medical Association), the architects all becoming political parties then there will be a lot of confusion," he added.

"When it has something to do with law, then you should comment but when you go about campaigning for political parties, then you should become a political party."

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz has agreed to look into forming a second Malaysian Bar as an alternative, saying that many lawyers have expressed disappointment in the council’s leadership under Lim Chee Wee but had no other choice but to be members of the Malaysian Bar.

During the association’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last week, lawyer Abu Backer Sidek had told reporters that he no longer wanted to be a part of the “stupid” Malaysian Bar, which he accused of being biased.

He suggested the formation of another Malaysian Bar as an alternative for those who shared his views.

“Yes, I would like to talk to him (Abu) and the Attorney-General to see if there is a possibility of setting up another Bar,” Nazri told The Malaysian Insider.

The Padang Rengas MP said this would be in addition to the proposal to set up a law academy for those who graduated in the field but are not practising lawyers.

In Bernama Online two days ago, Nazri was quoted as saying that the academy would be soon be raised in Cabinet and discussed with the A-G.

“The current Bar Council will proceed, of course. But that does not stop us from forming a law academy to cater to law graduates who are not practising law... Professors, lecturers, those in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, those in the corporate sector... those without an association,” he told The Malaysian Insider when asked to elaborate.

The Umno veteran added that there was presently a “monopoly” over the law fraternity by the Bar Council, which has now become an “opposition party”.

Nazri noted that those who voted in support of the pro-Bersih 3.0 motion during last week’s EGM were not representative of the entire over 14,000-members Malaysian Bar.

Of the 1,270 members who turned up last week, 939 voted in favour of the motion while 16 voted against.

The motion comprised a 12-point resolution condemning the police for allegedly using excessive force to disperse protesters during the Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections.

“Come on... they could not even run the EGM properly. How could they be voting that way, by show hands? The last time we did that was when I was elected captain of the Green House (sports team) in school,” Nazri sniped.

The Malaysian Insider previously reported Lim as dismissing accusations by the Cabinet minister calling the Bar Council prejudiced, as well as clamours for its dissolution.

Lim said the council “cannot be dissolved” under the Legal Profession Act but its members could propose motions of no-confidence against council members.

The April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally, which saw tens of thousands throng the city’s streets, erupted into chaos shortly before 3pm when several protesters breached the police barricades surrounding Dataran Merdeka.

The breach prompted police to fire volleys of tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who ran helter-skelter through small alleyways and main road arteries within the city to escape the bombardment.

But the Bar Council has insisted, based on observations from its team of 78 monitors present in the rally that day, that the police had fired indiscriminately and excessively, even deliberately employing methods that hemmed in protesters and blocked their exits instead of dispersing them.