Dr Ting loses Pujut seat
Federal Court rules DUN has authority to disqualify assemblymen
KUCHING: Dr Ting Tiong Choon of Democratic Action Party (DAP) was disqualified yesterday as the assemblyman for Pujut, following the decision by the Federal Court in Putrajaya on the State Legislative Assembly’s (DUN) action against him in regards to him having had dual citizenship.
In a 7-2 majority decision, the apex court overturned the earlier decisions by the Court of Appeal and Kuching High Court that reinstated Dr Ting as Pujut assemblyman, citing Article 19 of the Sarawak Constitution and Article 72 of the Federal Constitution which state, respectively, that the DUN has the final say in such a ma er and that assembly proceedings cannot be questioned in any court.
The Federal Court found that the DUN has the power to disqualify Dr Ting as a member for having dual citizenship despite him renouncing it before contesting in the 2016 state election.
The lower courts had ruled that the DUN had no power to disqualify its members.
Apart from the DUN, the other appellants in yesterday’s case were former Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, and the Sarawak government.
Chief Justice Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who presided over the nine-member bench, also ruled that DUN Speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang
Nassar did not breach natural justice when allowing Dr Ting’s disqualification as a member of the august House.
The other judges were Court of Appeal president Datuk Rohana Yusuf, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah, and Federal Court judges Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli, Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Ong Lam Kiat, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.
According to Bernama, Justice Abdul Rahman, who delivered the decision, said Dr Ting’s loyalty to Malaysia was questionable a er he had pledged loyalty to Australia and exercised the rights of an Australian citizen.
“The state assembly was, therefore, not wrong to disqualify and remove him from the assembly as he was unfit to be a member or to continue to be a member of the assembly,” he said.
The judge also said that a citizen cannot acquire and renounce any citizenship at will and when it suits him or her while, at the same time, refusing to give up Malaysian citizenship, pointing out that under the Federal Constitution, the person could be stripped of his or her citizenship.
He said a person who is disqualified for election to the assembly cannot remove the disqualification simply by renouncing his or her foreign citizenship.
Justice Abdul Rahman said that it is wrong and goes against the spirit of Article 17(1)(g) of the Sarawak Constitution to allow a disqualified person to remain in the state assembly as an elected member, which would defeat the purpose of going through the election process to appoint only qualified persons to the assembly as elected members.
“It is against the law for a disqualified person to sit in the state assembly as an elected member and enjoy all the privileges accorded to a member,” he said.
He also said the state assembly had the power to disqualify and remove Dr Ting from the assembly for having acquired Australian citizenship, while adding that Article 72(1) of the Federal Constitution prohibits the court from questioning the decision of the state assembly and that the court would be in breach of that provision if it interferes with the exercise of that power.
Mohd Asfia was represented by counsels Tan Sri Cecil Abraham and Shankar Ram, Wong by Jonathan Tay, and the Sarawak government by State A orneyGeneral Datuk Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid.
Dr Ting was represented by a legal team led by Chong Siew Chiang, while the Election Commission was represented by Shamsul Bahrain.
Dr Ting, who acquired Australian citizenship in 2010 but renounced it on April 4, 2016 prior to the state election in May the same year, was disqualified as Pujut assemblyman by the DUN on May 12, 2017 following a motion tabled by Wong.
The state assembly was, therefore, not wrong to disqualify and remove him from the assembly as he was unfit to be a member or to continue to be a member of the assembly. Justice Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli
On Jan 23, Chin dismissed Petronas’ application to recuse himself as he found that the application was an affront to the judiciary, was frivolous and without merit, and awarded cost of RM50,000 to the plaintiffs.
Petronas then said it would appeal Chin’s decision against the recusal and its application to stay the proceedings of the civil suit pending its appeal was heard in chambers on Feb 5.
Fong, meanwhile, had voiced the state’s objection on delaying the hearing, saying it was a case of public interest.
The SST was imposed on petroleum products beginning Jan 1 last year, but Petronas has refused to pay up as it claims that Sarawak has no power to impose the tax.