YOURSAY | Which takes precedence – court trial or Parliament session?

YOURSAY | 'Is Najib's presence in the House so vital that it can't proceed without his presence?'

Court allows Najib to attend Parliament, proceedings to end earlier at 3.15pm

Vijay47: From the little I know about the separation of powers among the Judiciary, Legislature and Executive, I don’t think any of them have the authority to order around either of the two others.

Thus, in conceding to the letter from the Parliament speaker, High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah was merely extending elegant courtesy.

The letter from Parliament also makes us wonder as to the contents. And is this going to be the new normal?

That each time a Member of Parliament, as Najib Abdul Razak is, is hauled up to the courts, as many other MPs hopefully will be, there would be a letter from Parliament asking for its member to be excused from class?

But hold, bubbly defence lawyer Shafee Abdullah. Don’t nick another notch on your gun-belt.

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah (above) has been extremely accommodating to your many requests, including attending your son’s wedding when you asked for a postponement of court proceedings.

If I were you, I would start getting worried, very worried. Should the final decision be against your client, would you have any grounds to argue that the judge had been predisposed against you or your client?

Even today, the writing on the wall was pretty clear. The court proceedings did not end for lunch and in fact, the hearing continued.

And to make it worse, proceedings will end only at 3.15pm, leaving your client just 15 minutes to ‘mat rempit’ it to Parliament.

Pakcik Am: The legislative arm of government does not take precedence over the judiciary.

Is this House Speaker Azhar Azizan ‘Art’ Harun's first act of partiality for Perikatan Nasional (PN)? Will he write to the judge if it is a Harapan MP? Not that any Harapan MP is expected to be charged and tried for any criminal offence.

OceanMaster: Wow... I don't think there is such a protocol if we are to reflect the doctrine of separation of powers.

Furthermore, for what Najib is accused of, and the leading convoluted role he had in the scandal vis-a-vis as PM, he should have been made to go on garden leave from his MP position.

The Dewan Rakyat is the august House where the biggest decisions concerning the nation, citizens and public are made, and he should not be there at all as a voting member with such a questionable reputation.

Anonymous Observer: The person alleged to have committed serious crimes against national interest is being treated in a special and exceptional manner.

I'm afraid we are sending a wrong message to the public.

Bluemountains: Is there any provision in the laws that allows the speaker of the Dewan Rakyat to ask for an MP, who is on trial for a criminal offence, to be released so that he could attend Parliament?

Did the speaker act on his own accord? Was the speaker directed to do so?

Kim Quek: On the heel of unprecedentedly occupying his speaker’s seat illegally, this backdoor speaker is now breaking another record – interfering into the proceedings of another independent institution, the Judiciary.

Is Najib’s presence in the House so vital that it can’t proceed without his presence? If not, then what is the justification for the speaker’s request to the court to release Najib from the court proceeding?

As a lawyer himself, speaker Azhar should realise the gravity of the charges for which Najib is on trial – the greatest theft of public funds in the nation’s history and the financial crime of the century worldwide.

Azhar has better reveal to the public the grounds upon which he has interrupted this trial if he still wants to retain a modicum of public confidence.

Apa Aku Dapat: Why does the speaker issue such a letter. Is that your role, Art Harun?

And will this special treatment apply to any other ‘orang kena tuduh’ (accused)?

PurpleKijang9104: Has the speaker any jurisdiction to suggest for a member to attend Parliament when the member has to answer on the greatest robbery of the century?

Is Art's letter to the judge constitutional? Can the Parliament overrule the Judiciary? I am sure many like me would like to know of this ruling from the speaker.

R Venugopal: Indeed, is it very crucial for Najib to attend the parliamentary session? He is not a minister, so why give special privileges for an accused?

Even the speaker is subservient to Najib, so how can he conduct Parliament in an impartial manner?

Kawak: The new Dewan Rakyat speaker came to rescue Najib. Marvellous.

What if an opposition MP is in a similar situation? Can he or she have such special treatment?

MS: What I'm tempted to say will only exasperate the Malaysiakini editor and cause him to go into editorial overdrive. So, out of consideration for him and him alone, I shall restrain myself. - Mkini