The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) will raise an objection against Bersatu’s legal action to vacate four parliamentary seats in Sabah.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, who is from AGC, today confirmed their intent to raise the objection against the opposition party’s application for leave to initiate a judicial review.
“We will object on reasons (that the issue of the vacating of parliamentary seats) is not amenable to judicial review,” he told Malaysiakini.
Under the law, an issue being not amenable to judicial review means it is not something that the courts have the power to decide on.
The judicial review leave application is set for case management before the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.
When contacted after the case management, Bersatu's counsel Chetan Jethwani said the court had set Aug 29 to hear the party's judicial review leave application.
In the event that the court grants leave, it would later fix a separate date to hear parties' submissions on the merits of the judicial review.
According to the Malaysian judiciary's online portal, the AGC represented the Dewan Rakyat speaker.
The four Sabah parliamentarians are represented by law firm, Firoz Julian.
On April 17, Bersatu’s counsel from law firm Chetan Jethwani & Company filed legal action against Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul and four Sabah MPs.
The two applicants are Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee and a public officer of the party, Captain (Rtd) Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya.
Besides the Dewan Rakyat speaker, the other respondents are four MPs - namely Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Matbali Musah (Sipitang).
Bersatu is seeking an order to revoke a decision made by Johari, via a letter dated Jan 16, which stated that the four lawmakers had clarified and confirmed that there was no vacant parliamentary seat based on the interpretation of the constitution of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Bersatu.
Bersatu also seeks a declaration that the four MPs had ceased to be members of the Dewan Rakyat in line with Article 49A of the Federal Constitution, as well as an order for Johari to confirm the four seats as unoccupied.
Bersatu is also seeking an order for Johari to inform the Election Commission (EC) about the vacancy within 21 days of the order.
In the 15th general election (GE15), the four MPs were elected under the GRS banner, which included Bersatu as a coalition member.
However, GRS ended its alliance with Bersatu after the national polls.
Bersatu contended that on Dec 10 last year, GRS chairperson Hajiji Noor issued a media statement informing that the four MPs had decided to leave the party.
The applicant claimed that over a week later on Dec 19 during the first parliamentary session after GE15, the four MPs sat in the government block, which clearly showed their intention to leave Bersatu.
Bersatu contended that its secretary-general then issued a termination notice to the four lawmakers on Dec 21 last year, informing them that they had ceased to be party members.
The opposition party claimed that as the termination occurred after the polls, the parliamentary seats fell vacant in accordance with Article 49A(3) of the Federal Constitution. - Mkini
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