Asfia denounces Chong’s letter for emergency DUN sitting
KUCHING: State Legislative Assembly (DUN) speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar has described the letter by state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen as “vicious and vitriolic”.
Asfia was referring to the letter sent by Chong to Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg to make representation to the DUN speaker to hold an emergency DUN sitting within the next two weeks.
Chong, who is Kota Sentosa assemblyman, said the High Court’s decision was a crisis for DUN Sarawak in that, for the first time in history, a resolution passed by the DUN on a Ministerial Motion was declared unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void by the Court of Law.
In describing the proposals made by Chong in the letter as “absurd and idiotic”, Asfia pointed out that “anyone who is conversant with the basics of the legal system knows that, first you have the Court of first instance ( lower court), then you have the Appellate and then you have the Apex”.
“The ruling given so far is that Court of first instance which was delivered on June 17. We immediately filed the Notice of Appeal on June 19 at 3.30pm.
“Therefore, any attempt to take it out of the Court into the Dewan (DUN) is sub-judice. This is under Standing Order 32(2) because (when) it is in the Court of Appeal, you can’t take it out and pass it to the DUN.
“This is the very institution you mutilated and discredited. How can you go and seek solution there?” Asfia told reporters when met at Abang Johari’s Hari Raya open house at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.
Besides that, Asfia argued since the ruling given in the High Court was that the DUN was an incompetent forum, why take the matter out of the Court of Appeal to an incompetent forum.
“Why do you need to bring to an incompetent forum? There is no logic to it. Under Standing Order 8(3), the chief minister can make representation to the speaker, then the speaker can give notice.
“( But) which chief minister who commands 72 seats out of 82 seats will bow to the dictates of a minority which commands only seven seats? Out of the seven seats, one is the subject matter of the Court of Appeal and subject matter of police investigation.”
Apart from that, Asfia asked how Chong could expect the speaker to convene an emergency DUN sitting when he regarded the speaker as “not a proper person to be a speaker.”
“Besides, once the speaker calls for a meeting, you elbow and recuse him only to be rescued by the deputy speaker. Anyone who seriously believes this can happen needs his head to be examined. This will not happen.”
As to Chong’s claim that the DUN was in ‘crisis’, Asfia questioned how it could be in crisis when there are 72 solid BN elected representatives.
“For anyone to say that, it’s like a man shouting ‘ fire, fire’ while committing arson.”
Asfia said the letter submitted by Chong would never see the light of day for the simple reason that BN commands 72 seats, while DAP only commands seven seats and one seat is controversial.
On the filing of his appeal to the Court of Appeal, Asfia said he could not wait for the written judgment to submit and file the appeal, adding that he was waiting for the written judgement so that his lawyer could file the grounds of appeal, memorandum of appeal and record of appeal.
“We have lost the battle, ( but) we have not lost the war. With the grounds of appeal, we want to change the tide of the war. Win or lose, we promise the intensity and ferocity of the legal battle in the Court of Appeal and the Apex (Courts) will make the fight at the High Court look like a ‘Sunday picnic’.”
On June 17, High Court judge Datuk Douglas Christo Primus Sikayun ruled in favour of Dr Ting Tiong Choon, thus reinstating him as Pujut assemblyman.