KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Jailed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will not ask the Dewan Rakyat to excuse his absence from this month’s sitting as he intends to keep pressing the authorities to allow his attendance, his lawyer Latheefa Koya said.
The lawyer acknowledged the existence of a parliamentary rule that automatically disqualifies a lawmaker after six months of absence but said this does not apply to Anwar, who is currently serving out a five-year jail term for sodomy.
“It can’t be used against Anwar,” she told Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday.
She pointed out that in Anwar’s case, the Permatang Pauh MP is not deliberately skipping the meet “of his own volition”.
The exception to the automatic disqualification rule is if the lawmaker is in circumstances beyond their “control” such as illness or in Anwar’s case, not being “allowed to attend”, she added.
Latheefa said Anwar’s lawyers will not write to Parliament to ask that his absence next week to be excused, saying there was no need to do so as “it’s quite clear he wants to attend Parliament”.
“In fact, we are still going to press them to allow him to attend instead of asking to excuse him.
“It's his right to attend as an MP and opposition leader,” she said, pointing out that Anwar should not be deprived of the exercising of his duties and responsibilities in Parliament.
Latheefa also cited the Federal Constitution’s Article 48 when saying that Anwar would not be disqualified until the Pardons Board decides on his application for a royal pardon.
“As long as the Pardons Board has not decided, he remains an MP and opposition leader,” she said.
The Federal Constitution’s Article 48 (1)(e) provides for the disqualification of a lawmaker convicted and jailed for a minimum one year or fined a minimum RM2,000 and who has not received a free pardon.
For those who had filed for pardon, Article 48 (4)(c) states that the disqualification will take effect after the petition for pardon is disposed of.
Latheefa said Anwar’s lawyers are “not letting it go” as Putrajaya’s refusal of Anwar’s application to attend Parliament was just an outright rejection that came without any reason.
On Wednesday, Anwar’s family received a letter from the Prisons Department rejecting the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat’s de facto leader’s bid to appear at the Parliamentary session next Monday.
Latheefa confirmed that discussions are being made over the options available to secure Anwar’s attendance in Parliament, with the decision to be finalised in the next few days.
On February 10, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s 2014 ruling that reversed Anwar’s acquittal of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and sentenced him to five years’ jail.
Anwar, now imprisoned for over three weeks, was let out briefly on February 17 to testify in his defamation suit against Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
