Lawsuits by 4 Penang reps over vacating seats dismissed

 

The High Court in George Town, Penang today dismissed the lawsuits by four Penang assemblypersons over a motion in October 2020 for them to vacate their seats.

The suits were against the Penang state legislative assembly and state assembly speaker Law Choo Kiang.

Judicial commissioner Azizan Md Arshad dismissed the suits by the four - Zulkifli Ibrahim (Sungai Acheh), Dr Afif Bahardin (Seberang Jaya), Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq (Bertam), and Zolkifly Md Lazim (Telok Bahang), with no order as to costs.

“The Federal Court has already decided that Article 14A of the state constitution is valid so this court is bound by that decision,” Azizan said when delivering the decision today.

Article 14A of the Penang state constitution reads: a state assemblyperson shall vacate their seat if having been elected as a candidate of a political party, they resign or is expelled from a party or having been elected otherwise than as a candidate of a political party, they join a political party.

As for their applications that the motion against them was wrong, Azizan said the court cannot decide the matter as it falls under the jurisdiction of the state assembly.

He also said the court cannot grant an injunction against the defendants to prevent them from discussing the motion asking the plaintiffs to vacate their seats during the state assembly sitting.

“The court cannot prevent the defendants from exercising the powers given to them under the state constitution. The court cannot interfere and has no authority over the internal management of the state legislative assembly,” he added.

After Azizan delivered the decision, lawyer Chetan Jethwani, representing the four assemblypersons, told the court his clients intend to appeal.

“We will also be submitting an application for an injunction to stop the defendants from tabling the motion until the disposal of this appeal,” he added.

Anti-party-hopping law questioned

On Dec 16 last year, Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dismissed the leave applications by the four assemblypersons to challenge the competency of the state legislative assembly to pass an anti-party-hopping law.

The four filed the suit in 2020 to challenge the constitutionality of Article 14A(1) of the Penang state constitution, and to stop their seats from being declared vacant, pursuant to Article 14A(1).

Meanwhile, Chetan, when met outside the court, said his clients would file their appeals against today’s decision after the Chinese New Year holiday.

“This is because we believe the judge has made an error in his decision on this. The question that we are posing is whether or not Article 14A actually applies to these four assemblypersons.

“The two Bersatu assemblypersons never left the party and they remain in the party, while the two former PKR assemblypersons did not leave the party but were expelled.

“Constitutional question aside, we respect the Federal Court’s decision on Article 14A but for the state legislative assembly to disqualify the assemblypersons based on this Article, it doesn’t meet the criteria,” he added.

- Bernama