The parliamentary seat of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will not be automatically declared vacant even if he is absent from the House for six months, said his lawyer N Surendran.

 

He said the provision in the Federal Constitution that stipulates this does not apply to Anwar’s case.

 

“Here, it is not the case where Anwar is absenting himself, but he is being prevented from coming. So the six-month rule won’t apply to him,” he said today when asked.

 

Article 52 of the Federal Constitution stipulates that if an MP or senator is absent from every parliamentary sitting for six months, then his seat may be declared vacant.

 

Earlier today, Surendran had filed for a judicial review on Anwar’s behalf in a bid to reverse the Prisons Department decision not to allow Anwar to attend Parliament.

Earlier today, Surendran had filed for an ex parte judicial review on Anwar’s behalf in a bid to reverse the Prisons Department director-general Zulkifli Omar’s decision not to allow Anwar to attend Parliament.

The application seeks an annulment of the March 4 decision, and a court order compelling him to allow Anwar to attend the current parliament session until it ends on April 9.

It also seeks a court declaration that Anwar has the right to attend Parliament, or any remedy that the judge sees fit.

The application was lodged to the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning. Also present today were lawyers Latheefa Koya and Eric Paulsen, and Anwar’s daughters Nurul Izzah and Nurul Nuha.

Surendran added that Anwar has also applied for the judicial review to be heard urgently, so that a decision can be reached before the session ends.

“It should be kept in mind that he (Anwar) is the leader of the opposition, not just the Permatang Pauh MP.

“I wish to stress that this is an unprecedented in the history of the judiciary and the parliament of Malaysia, because never before has a valid leader of the opposition and parliamentarian been barred from attending a parliamentary session,” he said.

Anwar had been convicted of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan and sentenced to five year imprisonment, but Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had said that Anwar’s post will not be declared vacant until the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has dismissed his family’s petition for a royal pardon.

If Anwar obtains manages to obtain a full pardon from the Agong, then he may retain his seat, he said.

Although still an MP, both Pandikar and the Prisons Department have rejected requests to allow Anwar to attend the current parliament session.

However, Pandikar is reportedly reconsidering his decision following a courtesy call by PKR deputy president Mohd Azmin Ali.