PKR‘s R Sivarasa has labelled as baseless the argument by a former federal minister that Anwar Ibrahim should not have been elected as the Tambun MP and appointed as prime minister.
Lawyer P Waytha Moorthy is seeking to disqualify Anwar on grounds that the royal pardon granted to the PKR president in 2018 did not state that he was exempt from the five-year disqualification period for contesting an election after being released from prison.
Waytha, a minister in Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Cabinet from 2018 to 2020, wants the High Court to declare Anwar’s election as Tambun MP on Nov 19, 2022 and his appointment as prime minister five days later null and void.
Sivarasa said such reasoning showed an inability to appreciate the proper meaning of Article 48 of the Federal Constitution, which outlines the conditions under which an MP can be disqualified.
He said it was a public fact that in 2018, Anwar received a full and free pardon from the king at the time, who was of the view that the conviction was a miscarriage of justice.
He said the inclusion of the words “and who has not received a free pardon” in Article 48 made clear that in receiving a free pardon, the issue of a prior conviction as a disqualifying factor did not arise.
“It is a trite principle in law, which unfortunately Waytha Moorthy does not also appear to be able to appreciate, that the effect of a full and free pardon is to wipe away Anwar’s conviction completely.
“It is as if the conviction and sentence never occurred at all,” Sivarasa, who heads PKR’s legal bureau, said in a statement last night.
He said Waytha should instead ask why Anwar’s opponents for the Tambun seat had not raised the issue during the campaign.
Nor was the issue raised when Anwar was appointed as prime minister on Nov 25, 2022.
“One wonders also why he took two and three quarter years to suddenly wake up one morning having dreamed up this fatuous point. Is this case really more about trying to stay politically relevant in any possible way?”
DAP’s Syahredzan Johan had also questioned whether the suit filed by Waytha against Anwar was linked to Waytha’s recent meeting with Bersatu leaders.
The Bangi MP said that while anyone had the right to file court proceedings, the suit against Anwar appeared “frivolous and vexatious” as the latter had been prime minister for close to three years.
Waytha, president of the Malaysian Advancement Party, was among the leaders from political parties outside the government bloc who met Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to discuss the formation of a united opposition front.
