Speaker says Anwar to remain MP pending royal pardon petition

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is still a Member of Parliament pending a decision on his petition to the King for a royal pardon, parliament Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said today.

In a statement today, Pandikar Amin said he had received a copy of the petition filed by Anwar’s wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar this afternoon at the Istana Negara.

Pandikar Amin said Article 48 (4) (C) in the Federal Constitution allowed a lawmaker who filed for a royal pardon to keep his post, until the appeal had been dealt with.

The speaker said this being the case, he will not declare the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat vacant.

Anwar's 14-day deadline to file the pardon application would have expired today and he would have automatically been disqualified as Permatang Pauh MP.

His daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is PKR vice-president, said the petition for pardon was made on the basis that the conviction failed to adhere to the principles of justice.

"The petition for a royal pardon has been sent to the Palace," she added.

Anwar's lawyer, N. Surendran, earlier said that the opposition leader had decided not to seek a royal pardon.

"We met Anwar in prison last week and he did not give any instruction to file such an application. His lawyers, too, will not file anything to that effect," he told The Malaysian Insider.

On February 10, a five-man bench led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria found Anwar guilty of having carnal intercourse with his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

He 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 also said that 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.

Former attorney-general (A-G) Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman said nothing stopped family members of an accused person from filing a petition to the Pardons Board.

"Usually, the accused who has exhausted his legal avenue will through his counsel file the petition," he told The Malaysian Insider.

Talib said the application for pardon would be chaired by the King and the members of the board would consist of the prime minister, the attorney-general and two others.

Talib, who served as A-G between 1980 and 1993, said the board was not bound by the opinion of the present A-G although it must consider his advice.– February 24, 2015.

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