KUALA LUMPUR: After being barred from attending two Parliamentary sittings last week, Datuk C. Sivarraajh was finally allowed into the Dewan Rakyat today following a finding that he is still valid Parliamentary representative for Cameron Highlands.
The ruling by Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff that Sivarraajh was still a valid Barisan Nasional parliamentarian until disposal of his appeal against an Election Court decision that his electoral victory in the constituency was invalid.
On Dec 5, Ariff had ordered Sivarraajh to leave the Dewan Rakyat and seek an answer from a lawyer on the lawmaker’s status, following the court’s decision on Nov 30 which nullified BN’s electoral victory in Cameron Highlands was due to elements of corruption.
Today, Ariff said the Election Commission (EC) would only declare the parliamentary seat as vacated if the EC has been relayed the court’s decision.
He noted however that the court would not relay its decision to EC if Sivarraajh files an appeal against the court ruling within 14 days from the date of the ruling, as per Section 36A of the Election Offences Act 1954
“The need for the Election Court judge to certify the decision with the Election Commission within 14 days is mandatory before the decision is final.
“The Election Court will not issue the certification if an appeal is filed within 14 days.
“In this matter, in light of Yang Berhormat Cameron Highlands (Sivarraajh) having stated his intention to file an appeal, the certification will not be issued by the Election Court and will only be issued by the Federal Court after the appeal process is complete.
“The Election Commission will only declare a seat as vacated after receiving a certification from the court, therefore Yang Berhormat Cameron Highlands is still regarded as a member of Parliament until the completion of the appeal process,” Ariff said.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-MIC-Bagan Datuk) then stood up and expressed his thanks and congratulations to Ariff over the ruling, heralding it as a ‘victory of the people’.
However, Ariff was forced to mute the microphones of lawmakers to calm down a heated situation which arose when Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Umno-Rembau) asking the Dewan Rakyat to officially record that Sivarraajh was denied his right to attend two Parliamentary sittings.
“I wish to record that Cameron Highlands (Sivarraajh) was denied his right (to attend Dewan Rakyat) for two days (Dec 5 and 6 last week). He should not have been removed (from Dewan Rakyat),” Khairy said.
On Wednesday last week, Ariff ordered Sivarraajh to temporarily leave the Dewan Rakyat when RSN Rayer (PH-DAP-Jelutong) raised the issue of whether Sivarraajh should even be in Parliament due to the Election Court ruling.
