Former Nenggiri rep secures mid by-election campaign court date

The full injunction application former Nenggiri assemblyperson Mohd Azizi Abu Naim filed to prevent the upcoming by-election in the state seat will be heard on Aug 7, which is during the campaign period for the polls.

Malaysiakini was made to understand that the court hearing was initially scheduled for Aug 28.

Azizi (above), who is also Gua Musang MP, said he will fight in court after claiming that Kelantan legislative assembly speaker Mohd Amar Abdullah’s decision to vacate his seat was different from the one made by Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul.

“The process for us to get the result from the Dewan Rakyat speaker was far more detailed. There was document correspondence.

“But at the state (legislative) level, we were not given any notice until we found out from the media that the state speaker had vacated my seat.

“I will leave it to the wisdom of the lawyers and also the justice at the High Court,” Azizi told a press conference at the Parliament building today.

This comes after the Kuala Lumpur High Court on June 27 denied Azizi’s ad-interim injunction application where he was seeking a temporary restraining order to maintain the status quo between parties, pending the disposal of his lawsuit challenging the validity of his party membership cessation, which led to the Nenggiri state seat falling vacant.

He sought a court declaration that Articles 10.5 read with 10.4 and 10.6 of Bersatu’s constitution violated his constitutional right to equality before the law and freedom of association.

Azizi contended that his cessation as a Bersatu member was invalid and that the Kelantan speaker’s declaration that Nenggiri fell vacant was null and void.

The Election Commission (EC) announced Aug 3 as nomination day, early voting on Aug 13 and Aug 17 as polling day.

Azizi is among the seven Bersatu lawmakers whose party membership was terminated for voicing support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Madani administration.

MPs’ seats remain

On July 9, Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul decided that the parliamentary seats of the six former Bersatu MPs would not be vacated after he rejected Bersatu’s bid to oust those lawmakers.

In his letter, Johari said Bersatu’s rule of memberships being forfeited when MPs go against the party, went against the Federal Constitution and Parliament rules that guaranteed lawmakers freedom to speak, debate, and vote.

The other representatives whose party memberships were terminated are Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, Tanjong Karang MP Zulkafperi Hanapi, Jeli MP Zahari Kechik, Kuala Kangsar MP Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid, and Selat Klang assemblyperson Abdul Rashid Asari.

Azizi contested under the PAS banner for the Perikatan Nasional coalition in the last general election.

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