Court throws out Warisan's suit against defector

The Kota Kinabalu High Court has struck out Warisan’s suit aimed at enforcing an undated resignation letter signed by Sebatik assemblyperson Hassan Amir Gani.

Judge Wong Siong Tung ruled that the letters were unlawful and would infringe upon Hassan’s (above) right to freedom of association.

“An elected member of legislature should be free to act according to the best of his or her ability and his independent judgement should not be legally constrained by obligations to either his party or to the electorate or subject to dictates of anybody.

“Any arrangement that fetters or deprives such freedom of elected members of the legislature will be contrary to public policy and unlawful,” said Wong, according to The Borneo Post.

The suit was filed by Warisan secretary-general Loretto Padua Jr, who sought a court order to enforce Hassan’s “pledge of loyalty” to Warisan before the Sabah elections in September 2020.

All Warisan assemblypersons signed the undated letters, pledging to resign if they were to leave the party, before being nominated by the party as candidates.

Hassan left Warisan in February 2021. He was among five Warisan assemblypersons to have left the party since the 2020 elections and aligned themselves with the Gabungan Rakyat Sarawak government.

Wong said any act that deprived Hassan of his freedom of association cannot be legally binding.

“Any causes of action based on such an arrangement to deprive such freedom cannot be sustained in law.

“The appropriate penalty of the elected member of legislature for broken political promises is for the voters or electors to consider voting differently at the next opportunity,” said Wong.

The court ordered Padua to pay Hassan RM5,000 in cost. - Mkini