The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) was denied court leave to commence legal action to be officially registered as a political party.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court today dismissed the fledgeling political group’s judicial review leave application to compel the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the home minister to execute the registration.
Judge Mariana Yahya made the ruling during online proceedings with parties involved in the matter.
Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and 12 others are the judicial review leave applicants, while the two respondents are the ROS and the minister, who is not named.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly, who acted for the ROS and minister, confirmed the outcome when contacted this morning.
“(Muda’s) application for leave to commence judicial review was dismissed,” he said.
Today was scheduled for the court’s decision on Muda’s application for leave to proceed with the judicial review.
Muda’s legal bid targets the ROS for rejecting its registration application via an email sent on Jan 6.
After attending today’s online proceedings, Hanir said the court issued the ruling because the group has not utilised the avenue of appealing to the home minister against the ROS’ rejection of registration.
He explained the avenue in question is provided under the Societies Act 1966.
“(The court found there was a) failure (by Muda) to exhaust the domestic remedy available under the Societies Act,” he said.
When contacted, the judicial review leave applicants’ counsel S Ambiga confirmed this as the reason for the dismissal.
“The court rejected it (judicial review leave application) on grounds that they (judicial review leave applicants) should have appealed to the minister within 30 days (of the ROS’ decision), per the Societies Act.
“The court held that Muda must exhaust that remedy first,” she said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Lim Wei Jiet, who is one of the 13 judicial review leave applicants, told Malaysiakini that they would be discussing with their legal representatives over Muda’s next course of action.
He added that they would be conferring with their lawyers on the options available, among them whether to appeal today’s court verdict or to proceed with the appeal to the minister.
It was reported that among the reasons for Muda seeking the judicial review was an allegation that the home minister had asked Syed Saddiq to "commit" himself to the prime minister.
In an affidavit in support of the judicial review leave application, the Muar MP claimed that the minister sought this from him (Syed Saddiq) when he asked about the registration status of Muda.
The former Bersatu member pointed to an alleged communication between him and the minister on Dec 13 last year, in regard to the then status of Muda’s application to be registered.
Syed Saddiq also alleged that the ROS' willful refusal to register Muda would deprive voters of another choice of a political party to vote for.
He claimed this is particularly so against the background of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government having a slim majority in Parliament, which purportedly signals an impending 15th general election.
The applicants from Muda are seeking a court order to quash the ROS’ Jan 6 decision which refused to register Muda as a society under the political party category as per Section 7 of the Societies Act 1966.
They also seek an award for damages, including aggravated and exemplary damages, costs and all necessary and consequential relief, directions and orders deemed just by the court.
Besides Syed Saddiq and Lim, the other applicants are former Suaram project coordinator Amir Hariri Abdul Hadi; former doctor Dr M Mathen; Alzahra University post-doctoral research fellow Teo Lee Ken; freelance Spanish translator Dr Thanussha Francis Xavier; lawyer Luqman Long; former national economic action council member Mohd Fakhruradzi Tajuddin; Perbadanan Kota Buku CEO Mohd Saufy Nizar Abdul Rahman; Syed Saddiq’s special officer for Muar constituency Nur Afiqah M Zulkifli; agricultural entrepreneur Shahrizal Denci; NGO member Siti Rahayu Baharin; and Institute for Leadership and Development Studies projects and operations manager Tarmizi Anuwar.
Muda is spearheaded by Syed Saddiq, who was formerly Bersatu Youth chief until he was booted out from the party. Muda aims to be a youth-centric, multiracial political platform.
It was reported that the ROS not only rejected Muda’s application for registration as a political party, but also rejected a similar application by Pejuang as well.
Pejuang, led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had previously filed a legal action to compel ROS to make a decision over the group’s registration application, which was purportedly unduly delayed.
However, Pejuang withdrew the legal action on Jan 7 when it received an email from the ROS informing about the rejection of the registration application.
Pejuang was formed last August as an offshoot of Bersatu.
Mahathir, who is Pejuang's pro-tem chairperson, its pro-tem president Mukhriz Mahathir, and several others were previously ejected from Bersatu for refusing to sit with the PN government during a parliamentary session.
Mukhriz had said that if Pejuang's registration is rejected, the party may consider contesting the next general election under another party or on a coalition's ticket, rather than as third-party independents.
Two days ago, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin announced that applications by Muda and Pejuang to register as political parties were rejected due to their non-compliance with provisions under the Societies Act.
Hamzah said the ROS had, upon verifying documents submitted in both applications, found discrepancies with the requirements under Schedule 1 of the Act.
In response to Hamzah's announcement, Muda's Lim said that they would not appeal to the minister regarding the group's registration, alleging that the minister's claim would strengthen their court case.
Meanwhile, Pejuang's lawyer Mior Nor Haidir Sulaiman said that they may go to court again to be registered as a political party if the home minister gives no reasonable answer to their appeal made under the Societies Act. - Mkini
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