Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) is in quandary whether to allow leaders who have been sentenced to more than a year's imprisonment or RM2,000 fine to stand as candidates in the coming general election due by November next year.

Vice-president Mohd Azmin Ali said the party has yet to decide because election rules currently do not give a clear picture on the status of candidates who have appealed against conviction.

"We have to deal with this issue carefully because it involves quite a few of our leaders. We are still discussing it at the supreme council level and have sought legal advice to make things clearer," he said.

He also admitted that the party may have to refer the issue to the Election Commission (EC), which has the authority to decide on such issues.

"We have been given two contradicting interpretations. One says that a conviction strips a candidate's polling right immediately while the other believes that the right (to stand for election) remains until the person has exhausted all avenues for appeal," said Azmin.

"So this is why we may need to refer to EC. But before we do that, we need to get some guidance from our panel of lawyers to ensure that the commission's interpretation is made independently, and that this is not a political one," he added.

Election rules in Malaysia provide for a candidate to be disqualified if the person "has been convicted of an offence by a court of law in Malaysia and sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than a year or to a fine of not less than RM2,000 and has not received a free pardon".

Variety of offences

Among Keadilan leaders who may lose their chance of standing for elections are Azmin who was jailed 18 months for a perjury offence, Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor who was sentenced to two years' jail for breaching the Official Secrets Act and women's deputy chief Irene Fernandez , sentenced to a year's jail for publishing false news.

All three have appealed against their conviction and sentence, and the cases are pending disposal.

The party is also concerned with the status of N Gobalakrishnan, Lokman Nor Adam, Tian Chua and Badrul Amin Bahron, who are facing various charges, mainly in relation to participation in illegal assemblies.

Azmin said there is always a possibility the trials would be "sped up" to secure convictions, as similar moves had been in the past against party leaders such as Mohd Ezam.

"We do not want to name candidates only to have them disqualified at the nomination stage. If it is certain that their qualification as candidate is questionable then it would be better to find substitutes right away," he said.

He added that no one was willing to put the party at risk by nominating a "risky candidate" and that he believed all leaders would put aside self-interest.