Koh Jun Lin | Published: | Modified:
PARLIAMENT | BN lawmakers staged a walkout after Dewan Rakyat speaker Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof refused to retract his decision to evict MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh pending clarification on his status as an MP.
This followed an argument in the House when opposition MPs urged Ariff to retract and apologise for his decision. The verbal jousting went on for about 30 minutes.
However, Ariff said he would only make a ruling on Sivarraajh’s status on Monday, after studying the matter.
“After hearing debates, I hope it is clear to you that the legal position is unclear, so I need some time to issue a ruling.
“I have spoken to (Sivarraajh’s) lawyer and he will get in touch with me,” he added.
Ariff said he had told Sivarraajh and his lawyer to obtain Election Court judge Azizah Nawawi's written judgment and send it to his office.
Yesterday, Ariff told Sivarraajh to leave the House pending clarification on whether the Election Court in Kuala Lumpur had issued a stay order on its declaration that the Cameron Highlands seat is vacant.
The matter was revived today just prior to the resumption of debates on the 2019 budget proposal, when Bung Moktar Radin (BN - Kinabatangan) asked the speaker if he has made a decision on Sivaraajh’s status.
Ariff said he had told Sivarraajh and his lawyer to obtain the judge’s full judgement, and he will make his decision after studying it.
Other BN representatives then started questioning the speaker and his basis for telling Sivarraajh to leave although the decision is not yet final, and whether the speaker has received notification by the court or the Election Commission that the Cameron Highlands seat is vacant.
“When you (the speaker) removed the Cameron Highlands member from the assembly yesterday and have still yet make a decision today, that means you have already made a ruling to remove him.
“You have already punished the Cameron Highlands member although you have no power to do so,” said Ismail Sabri Yaakob (BN-Bera).
Ismail also referred to Section 36(2) of the Election Offence Act 1954, saying that it allows Sivarraajh 14 days to make an appeal before the court decision becomes final.
Referring to the same provision, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN- Bagan Datuk) claimed that the court cannot issue its written decision until that 14-day period had lapsed.
However, Wong Hon Wai (Harapan-Bukit Bendera) pointed out that the English edition of the Election Offence Act differed from the Malay language version.
He said the authoritative version of this particular law is the English version, and it states that the judge can issue a decision at any time within the 14-day period, rather than having to wait for the 14-day period to lapse.
Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) pointed to a precedent. He said that following the 2004 general election, the Election Commission had wrongly recorded the vote tally for Pasir Puteh, and the wrong representative was allowed to attend parliament until the case was fully disposed of by the court.
Khairy Jamaluddin (BN - Rembau) and several others said the speaker is taking too long to decide, especially in view of the fact that the parliament would only sit for another two days this year.
“Shame on you,” he said, as it became increasingly clear that Ariff is unmoved by arguments by BN and PAS representatives.
Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PAS - Kubang Kerian) suggested that the speaker make his decision at the end of today’s sitting, so Sivarraajh can attend Parliament on Monday, but the speaker was still unmoved.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/454965
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