THE President of the Court of Appeal has recused himself from hearing Bersatu’s application to challenge the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s decision not to declare vacant four Sabah parliamentary seats won by the party at the last general election.
Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, who was presiding over a three-judge Federal Court panel, announced his decision to step aside on the grounds that he has known Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, counsel for Bersatu, for more than three decades.
The panel also comprised the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Datuk Azizah Nawawi, and Federal Court Judge Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan. The court has scheduled a case management session for tomorrow to fix a new hearing date.
The proceedings were attended by Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi and Federal Counsel Imtiyaz Wizni Aufa Othman, representing the Speaker, Tan Sri Johari Abdul, who is the first respondent.
Earlier, Abu Bakar said he did not believe that the matter would give rise to a conflict affecting the public interest, but nevertheless invited both sides to express their views.
Counsel Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, representing the four Members of Parliament, informed the court that his clients would be somewhat reluctant for Abu Bakar to continue hearing the matter.
Bersatu vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee and party officer Datuk Captain (R) Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya had filed the judicial review application on 17 April 2023, naming Johari and the four MPs—Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Datuk Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Datuk Matbali Musah (Sipitang)—as respondents.
Bersatu is seeking an order to quash Johari’s letter dated 16 January 2023, in which he stated that the four MPs had provided clarification and confirmed that no vacancy had arisen, based on interpretations of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) constitution and Bersatu’s constitution.
The party is also seeking declarations that the MPs had ceased to be members of the Dewan Rakyat under Article 49A of the Federal Constitution, and an order compelling Johari to confirm unexpected vacancies for all the seats concerned.
The High Court rejected Bersatu’s application for leave to initiate the judicial review on 16 November 2023, and the Court of Appeal dismissed the party’s appeal on 4 August this year. - December 8, 2025
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