PETALING JAYA: Lawyer-activist Siti Kasim has received a clarification from the attorney-general stating that PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim is eligible to stand in the Port Dickson by-election.
Tommy Thomas explained in a letter to Siti that the former deputy prime minister was granted a full pardon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“Accordingly, by virtue of Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is not disqualified from standing as a candidate for the forthcoming by-election for the Port Dickson constituency,” the letter read.
Siti posted a picture of the letter on her Facebook.
“So, there you go folks! He can run for the Port Dickson by-election,” she said in her post.
Siti had last week urged Thomas to state whether the PKR leader’s release last May was due to a commutation of his five-year jail sentence, or a royal pardon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as recommended by the Pardons Board.
She said she could not locate the full contents of the document signed by the Agong last May that enabled Anwar’s release.
Earlier today, Siti, who has been among those who criticised Anwar’s decision to stand in Port Dickson – the seat vacated by PKR’s Danyal Balagopal Abdullah four months after winning it – said she had yet to receive a reply from either the AG or the Election Commission and hoped she could get one before the nomination day for the by-election on Saturday.
Anwar was sentenced to five years’ jail in 2015 over a charge of sodomising his aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
The Pakatan Harapan coalition has promised to appoint him as prime minister, and had campaigned for a royal pardon to pave the way for his return to politics.
The constitution gives the Agong the power to grant a royal pardon based on the recommendation of the Pardons Board. -FMT
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