KUALA LUMPUR: Former Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun made his appearance in the High Court today to argue against the decision made by his successor Tan Sri Johari Abdul not to vacate four parliamentary seats in Sabah.
Azhar, who was the Dewan Rakyat speaker between July 2020 and December last year, is now lead counsel for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in its judicial review to have the seats, won by its members, vacated.
The party, through vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee and public officer Datuk Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya, had filed the application on April 17.
They named Johari and the holders of the seats, Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, Jonathan Yasin and Datuk Matbali Musah, as the respondents.
Bersatu claimed that Johari's decision not to vacate the seats of Papar, Batu Sapi, Ranau and Sipitang, held by Armizan, Khairul Firdaus, Yasin and Matbali, respectively, was tainted by illegality.
In today's proceedings, Azhar argued before judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh that the court should allow the application as a prima facie case had been established in favour of the applicants.
He said the applicants had brought good and strong grounds for leave to be granted, and the application for leave was not frivolous.
He said the first respondent (Johari) had not provided any documents or basis to show how the determinations were made.
"Johari certainly has no jurisdiction whatsoever to determine the status of membership of a Bersatu member as it lies solely with the party's secretary-general.
"Any attempts by the first respondent to make his own determination as to Bersatu's membership and when does anyone cease to be a member would certainly exceed his jurisdiction.
"Hence, Johari is bound to accept the political party's decision on the matter," he said.
Azhar said Johari's determination that the second and fifth respondents had ceased being members of Bersatu on Oct 27 last year, is wholly irrational and ludicrous.
"This leaves ample room for abuse and requires intervention by the court.
"Johari's determination needs to be examined thoroughly and he must explain how he made such a determination despite evidence to the contrary," he said.
Meanwhile, senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi argued that the court should dismiss the application as the impugned decision was not amenable to judicial review by virtue of Article 63 of the Federal Constitution.
"We submit that immunity is necessary in order to uphold the separation of powers between the three main organs of the government.
"This goes back to the very essence of the law and custom of Parliament which is embodied in the maxim 'whatever matter arises concerning either House of Parliament, ought to be examined, discussed, and adjudged in that house to which it relates, and not elsewhere'," he said.
Article 63 of the FC provides for the privileges of Parliament.
It protects the proceedings of Parliament from being interfered with by the courts, and as a result, upholds the principle of separation of powers.
Amarjeet fixed Nov 16 for decision.
Bersatu, in its application for a judicial review, claimed that the four ceased to be party members when they, having been elected as members of parliament, had chosen to sit on the government side of the Dewan Rakyat, showing a clear intention to leave Bersatu.
This, it said, was in contravention of Article 49A of the Federal Constitution on party-hopping.