Lawyer N. Surendren says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has not given any instructions to file an application for a royal pardon. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 24, 2015.
With Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s decision not to file an application for a royal pardon, the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, held by the PKR de facto leader, will most likely be declared vacant by the parliamentary speaker, his lawyer said today.
N. Surendren said the 14-day deadline to file the application would expire at the end of today.
"We met Anwar in prison last week and he did not give any instruction to file such application. His lawyers, too, will not file anything to that effect," he told The Malaysian Insider.
Surendran said he and R. Sivarasa met Anwar, who is serving his five-year jail term in Sungai Buloh, last Wednesday.
On February 10, a five-man bench led by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria found Anwar guilty of having carnal intercourse with his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
He allegedly committed the offence at a unit of the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara, between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
The Federal Constitution states that the seat will not be declared vacant until the Pardons Board has deliberated and made a decision.
Surendran, who is also Padang Serai MP, said Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia could declare the seat vacant and send a note to the Election Commission to hold a by-election.
An election must be held within 60 days after the seat is declared vacant.
"We are ready for contest and will go all out to retain the seat with a bigger majority," said Surendren, who sits on the party's central committee.
In the 13th general election, Anwar won Permatang Pauh with 37,090 votes over BN’s Dr Mazlan Ismail's 25,369 votes and independent candidate Abdullah Zawawi Samsudin's 201 votes.
Surendran said Anwar's legal team would continue studying the 116-page judgment before deciding to file a review application of the ruling.
"There is no time schedule to file the review but it must be done expeditiously," he said.
Lawyer Datuk Harpal Singh Grewal said that in a review application, the applicant need only show there was injustice or abuse of court process.
He said the Federal Court had wide powers but a review was only allowed under exceptional circumstances.
"Over the years, countless applicants have appeared before the apex bench to review its own ruling but less than five have succeeded," he told The Malaysian Insider.
In the summary of his judgment, Arifin found that claims of political conspiracy by the defence team remained an unsubstantiated allegation.
He also agreed with the High Court and Court of Appeal that Saiful was a credible witness.
The judgments also demolished the credibility of all defence witnesses, including two Australian DNA experts who gave their opinions against the findings of two local chemists.
- TMI
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