KUCHING, July 18: The Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) needs to appeal the case involving Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon in the Federal Court in order to protect the integrity of DUN, said Semop assemblyman Abdullah Saidol.
On July 13, a three-judge bench decided that the DUN had exceeded its power in denouncing Dr Ting’s DUN membership on the basis of his dual citizenship, which Dr Ting had given up before being nominated as a candidate for Pujut in the 2016 state polls.
The Court of Appeal then dismissed the case against the disqualification of Dr Ting as Pujut assemblyman.
Abdullah said that while the DUN respected the decision of the Court of Appeal, the judgements of the High Court and Court of Appeal raised issues of great constitutional importance.
“These issues relate to the privilege of DUN to determine its own membership, the qualifications for election to this august House and the doctrine of separation of powers in a system of parliamentary democracy as practised in Malaysia.
“These important constitutional issues should be brought to the highest court of the federation so that there could be an authoritative judicial pronouncement for the guidance of all three arms of government,” Abdullah said in his speech today.
He further explained that the motion to appeal against the said decision was not to decide the fate of Dr Ting but for the predominant purpose of resolving an important constitutional issue that had arisen as a result of legal proceedings initiated by Dr Ting himself.
Abdullah also called upon all the members of DUN to give their fullest support to file for the appeal to the Federal Court. — DayakDaily
