Anwar must apply to attend Parliament, says Wan Junaidi

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must submit an application to attend Parliament next month. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 25, 2015.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a five-year jail term for sodomy, has to submit an application to attend Parliament next month, said Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

"We will consider if there is an application," he added.

The opposition leader is still Permatang Pauh MP after his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar presented a petition for a royal pardon to Istana Negara yesterday afternoon, just before the 14-day deadline expired.

The Federal Constitution states that the seat will not be declared vacant until the Pardons Board has deliberated and made a decision.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, in a statement last night said that Anwar was still an MP pending a decision on his petition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for a royal pardon.

Wan Junaidi said Anwar's case was unique as this was the first time such a situation had arisen and that as such, there was a need to study the matter closely from both the legal point of view as well as the prison’s regulations.

He said Anwar needed to apply to two authorities, the prisons department and Parliament, before the home ministry could decide if the PKR de facto leader can attend the Dewan Rakyat sitting in March.

He also said that if Anwar was allowed to attend the sitting, his status as a convicted prisoner remained.

"He has been found guilty and if we look at the constitution, a person convicted is guilty until he is pardoned," he said.

On February 10, a five-man bench led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria found Anwar guilty of having carnal intercourse with his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

He was alleged to have committed the offence at a unit of the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26, 2008.

Professor Gurdial Singh Nijar of Universiti Malaya's law faculty said Anwar could not attend the Dewan Rakyat sitting next month unless the home minister granted him permission.

"He must obtain permission from the minister (Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) as all prisons come under his purview. Anwar has no absolute right to be present in Parliament but can make a request," he told The Malaysian Insider.

However, he said the Permatang Pauh MP's request could be looked into as Anwar was not a security risk to be kept away from the legislature.

- TMI