[UPDATED] Najib still Pekan MP until his pardon petition is rejected: speaker

KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s loss of position as MP for Pekan following his graft conviction will only take place after a petition seeking pardon for him has been decided upon with a rejection.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun said today that the petition was filed by the former prime minister on September 2, well within the 14-day period after the decision of the Federal Court to uphold his conviction, as required under Article 42 of the federal constitution.

He said that the loss of his parliamentary membership will therefore only take effect as soon as the petition issue is settled, and in the event that it is rejected.

“This means that the status of Right Honourable Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Member of Parliament for Pekan remains unchanged at this time and will only be finalised when the petition for pardon is settled,” he said in a statement today.

According to Article 48(1)(e) of the federal constitution, Azhar noted, any MP who is convicted by the Federal Court and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one year or fined not less than RM2,000, will be disqualified from their seat. 

Azhar added that he received a copy of the former Umno president’s pardon application that was filed under Article 42 of the federal constitution and dated September 1. 

He also received a copy of a letter, dated that same day, from Messrs Shafee & Co, to which the pardon application was attached. 

The application had been certified as received by the director-general of the Legal Affairs Division in the Prime Minister’s Department. A copy of the court order for Najib’s appeal case at the Federal Court dated August 23 was also submitted.

Last month, law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had said that there will be no by-election for the Pekan parliamentary constituency if Najib loses his seat following the Federal Court upholding his conviction on August 23. 

According to a report by Berita Harian, he said there is no need for the by-election as Najib will possibly be giving up the seat less than two years before the period when Parliament must be dissolved. The current term of Parliament ends in July next year. 

Najib became the first former Malaysian prime minister to serve jail time, following the apex court’s decision to uphold the high court’s previous ruling that Najib was guilty of all seven charges in the SRC International case.  

In addition to his 12-year sentence, the Federal Court also upheld the RM210 million fine imposed by the high court on Najib. 

A five-member bench chaired by chief justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said the findings of the high court were correct and the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt. – The Vibes, September 5, 2022