Coalition remains suspended pending Oct 22 hearing
KUALA LUMPUR: Perikatan Nasional was granted leave by the High Court to challenge a suspension order on its activities, imposed on the coalition by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).
Justice Azizan Md Arshad said in chambers that the application met the threshold for leave and that the issues raised should be argued at the substantive stage.
He, however, did not allow Perikatan’s application for an interim stay on the suspension order they sought, pending the substantive hearing of the judicial review.
Instead, Justice Azizan fixed Oct 22 to hear an inter-parte stay application on the suspension order.
The latest development leaves Perikatan’s status up in the air until the hearing on Oct 22.
Perikatan’s lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali told the media that the coalition could not use its name and logo for the time being, nor name candidates for the 16th Melaka election.
The leave application was filed by Perikatan and PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, along with secretaries-general of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) Wong Chia Zhen and Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) N. Sathes Kumar, as the first to third applicants, through Messrs Siddiq Azani & Co at the High Court Registry on Oct 5.
Apart from the three, the fourth and fifth applicants were the secretaries-general of Parti Wawasan Negara (Wawasan), Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah, and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), Datuk Sazmi Miah.
They named RoS director-general Datuk Mohd Zulfikar Ahmad and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as respondents.
The applicants also filed a certificate of urgency, saying the suspension prevented them from conducting routine political activities, including using the coalition’s name and symbol for the Melaka election, for which nomination day is scheduled for Oct 31 and polling on Nov 14.
In his supporting affidavit, Takiyuddin said the suspension order issued on Sept 23 had a conclusive effect, as it prohibited the coalition from carrying out political activities.
He said the suspension prevented the Perikatan supreme council and other party organs from convening meetings or making decisions, including those related to Perikatan’s participation in the Melaka polls.
As a result, Perikatan could not issue statements, hold public rallies or campaign, adding that party officials also risked prosecution if they breached the order.
In the application, Perikatan seeks an order of certiorari to quash the suspension order dated Sept 23. The order suspended all Perikatan activities except responding to a notice of intention to cancel registration.
They are also challenging a notice dated Sept 22 under subsection 13(2) of the same Act expressing the intention to deregister Perikatan after 30 days.
According to the application, the notice was issued on the grounds that Perikatan had breached Clause 7.1 of its Constitution by failing to invite Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), as a member party, to the coalition’s supreme council meeting on July 16.
They also said the suspension order was made without giving Perikatan the right to be heard, adding that they were not provided with Bersatu’s complaint or the documents forming the basis of the action.
