DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang today said the Gaya by-election should be contested by Sabahans and reiterated that he would not run for the seat, despite media reports claiming otherwise.

"Let me state for the final time: Nothing could be further from my mind than contesting in Gaya and I have absolutely no interest in it.

"In any event, the Gaya by-election should be contested by Sabahans," he said in a press statement.

Last week, DAP Sabah proposed that Lim runs for the seat and this was supported by another party leader who said opposition supporters nationwide wanted to see the DAP chief return to Parliament.

Lim, a former opposition leader, contested for the Bukit Bendera parliamentary seat in the 1999 general election but lost to a Gerakan candidate.

The Gaya by-election was called following Sabah Progressive Party president Yong Teck Lee's disqualification after being found guilty by an election court judge last year for committing corrupt practices during the 1999 Sabah state elections.

He was also disqualified as the Likas state assemblyperson but a by-election was not called for this seat because the state election will be held in less than two years.

After his application for leave to appeal against the ruling at the Federal Court level was rejected on Sept 3, Yong also filed a petition for pardon to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

However, the Election Commission has since set a by-election date for the parliamentary seat to take place on Oct 12.

Consult Federal Court

"In this case, I agree with Parliamentary Speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail that Yong is still the MP for Gaya as he had filed his petition for pardon (on Sept 17) before the expiry of the 14 days for him to exhaust all legal avenues of appeal," Lim said.

"The cabinet should instruct the attorney-general to seek from the Federal Court an authoritative interpretation of Article 48(4)C of the constitution to ascertain whether Yong had lost his eligibility as MP for Gaya and that his case is not subject to royal pardon," he added.

The said article states that an MP who has been disqualified from his position is entitled to exhaust all legal avenues of appeal, including a petition for pardon.

In addition, Lim said that should there be any confusion as to the interpretation of Art 48(4), the cabinet may also invoke Art 130 of the Federal Constitution which allows for the Yang di Pertuan Agong to seek the Federal Court's opinion.