Rep's pre-signed quit letter rejected
KOTA KINABALU: State Assembly Speaker Datuk Kadzim Yahya has rejected a pre-signed resignation letter of Sebatik assemblyman Hassan A. Gani Pg. Amir, thus the latter will remain as an assemblyman despite having resigned from Warisan.
Kadzim said he received two documents yesterday, including a Statutory Declaration from Hassan that he retracted and cancelled the resignation letter signed by him before winning the Sebatik state seat on a Warisan ticket in the last state election, and that he has decided to leave Warisan to become an independent who is GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah) government-friendly.
The other document was Hassan's pre-signed resignation letter submitted by Warisan secretary general Datuk Loretto S. Padua.
The Statutory Declaration was presented to him by Hassan at 11.45 am while the pre-signed resignation letter was delivered by Loretto to his assistant at 12.15 pm on the same day on March 2.
“After studying, I find that the pre-signed resignation letter delivered by Warisan is by itself ineffective because according to the law that we have now, any resignation letter that is presigned and undated is void. Based on that, I cannot accept the letter as the Sebatik assemblyman's resignation. And moreover, Sebatik also retracted and showed that he has no intention at all to vacate the Sebatik State Assembly seat,” said Kadzim.
“In consideration of the law relating to undated and pre-signed resignation letters, the State Assemblyman for Sebatik remains intact,” he said.
Kadzim also explained why he said that the pre-signed resignation letter delivered by Warisan's secretary general was undated.
“Based on the party president's statement, they (Warisan) confirmed that all candidates made the declaration. It is illogical that the letter is dated 26 February (2021) and not 10 September (last year).
“The present law is that an undated and pre-signed resignation letter is a void document. This is based on previously decided cases. That is the stance of the law now,” he said.
He also added that if Warisan felt the decision was wrong, they should go fight it in the court so that the result can be another precedent.
Kadzim said that Hassan's present status is that of an independent assemblyman who is GRS government-friendly.
“He is no longer a Warisan assemblyman. He is an independent assemblyman who supports the GRS government. But if he changes his mind tomorrow or the day after, that is really up to him,” said Kadzim.