EC mulls Tian Chua validity as Batu MP
By G. Manimaran, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — The Election Commission is now reviewing the High Court judgment to fine PKR’s Chua Tian Chang RM2,000 as that amount would lead to his disqualification as Batu MP under Article 48 of the Federal Constitution.
Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said they would have to study the Justice Datuk Ghazali Cha’s judgment against the first-term MP before deciding whether to hold a by-election.
“We are studying the matter now,” he told The Malaysia Insider.
Under Article 48 of the Federal Constitution, an MP is disqualified if he is convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than RM2,000.
The MP popularly known as Tian Chua paid the fine yesterday after the High Court reduced his sentence to RM2,000 or two months’ jail for biting a policeman at a protest outside Parliament in 2007.
Ghazali said he reduced the punishment to avoid a by-election and related costs of such an exercise.
But lawyers cited the 1975 case of former Menglembu MP, Fan Yew Teng, who was fined RM2,000 or six months jail under the Sedition Act.
Lawyer Sankara Nair said today the fine had cost the Batu MP his seat, adding the lawyers were arranging to meet with the judge to discuss it, but problem was the fine had already been paid.
He added the Dewan Rakyat Speaker should intervene as to whether Chua’s seat will be declared vacant, citing Fan’s case.
“But there is also a problem as Chua has already served [the] sentence, paid the fine, so he is caught in ‘Catch-22’ situation,” Sankara said.
He said it ultimately lies in the hands of the Speaker.
