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In the
driver’s pg20
seat
By-election
No 6: Penanti
rep resigns
by Opalyn Mok
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: Former Penang deputy chief
minister (I) Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin (pic)
resigned yesterday as Penanti assemblyman,
confirming weeks of speculation that there
would be a by-election for the state seat.
Mohammad Fairus, 33, said in a state-
ment that he decided to resign as a state
representative to protect the interest of his
party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
He said he also wanted to give full attention
to pursue his doctorate, as well as spend more
time with his family, something that had to take
a back seat as he had to fulfil his duties as an
assemblyman.
“This will also give me space to focus on
efforts to clear my name from all accusations
hurled at me all this time,” said Mohammad
Fairus who is under probe by the Malaysian
Anti-Corruption Commission.
He expressed his gratitude to his
constituents for their support throughout his
13-month tenure as assemblyman.
He had been
under media glare
for all the wrong
reasons recently,
the latest being
the MACC probe
relating to quarry-
ing activities.
Over the past
few days, report-
ers had waited at
the Butterworth
Sessions Court,
just in case he is
charged.
The politi-
cian tendered
his resignation
as DCM (I) and
state executive
councillor effective April 8 and since then, PKR
has yet to name a replacement.
Just yesterday, Mohammad Fairus had issued
a threat, through an interview with a Chinese
daily, to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim to clear his (Fairus’s) name or else he
will disclose a scandal involving the Penang
state government and also PKR (see page 8).
With Mohammad Fairus’s resignation as the
Penanti assemblyman, the Election Commission
will have to hold a by-election for the seat within
60 days of being informed by State Assembly
speaker Abdul Halim Hussain.
Penang PKR chairman Datuk Zahrain
Mohamad confirmed that Mohammad Fairus’s
resignation was sent to Abdul Halim yesterday.
Abdul Halim has confirmed receiving the quit
letter.
The Penanti seat is under the Permatang
Pauh parliamentary constituency, held by Anwar.
It has an electorate of 15,421 – of which 70% are
Malays, 26.7% Chinese and 2.7% Indians.
A Penanti by-election will not be a poll to
choose just the next state assemblyman but
also the new deputy chief minister.
It was reported that DAP and PAS, PKR’s
partners in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, are
not happy about forcing another by-election as
the people were suffering from election fatigue.
There have already been five by-elections since
the March 8, 2008 general election.
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations (Malaysia)
» Samy: No intention to pull out pg2
Suspension
order lifted
P
UTRAJAYA: The Fed-
eral Court lifted yesterday
Perak State Assembly
speaker V. Sivakumar’s
two-month-old order
suspending Mentri Besar Datuk
Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and six
state executive councillors from
state assembly sittings.
In a unanimous decision, the
five-member panel ruled that the
suspension order (18 months for
Zambry and 12 months for the
councillors) was ultra vires the
Perak Constitution and therefore,
null and void.
Court of Appeal President Tan
Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff said
under Article 63 of the Perak
Constitution, the court had the
power to dispose of an originat-
ing summons filed by Zambry
and the six councillors at the
High Court on March 2 with no
order as to costs.
Alauddin, who sat with Chief
Judge of Malaya Datuk Arifin
Zakaria and Datuk Nik Hashim
Nik Ab Rahman, Datuk S. Au-
gustine Paul and Datuk Zulkefli
Ahmad Makinuddin, had
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TELLING IT AS IT IS
» Fergie relishing another Gun fight pg31
adjourned the hearing for 45
minutes before coming to the
decision.
Zambry and Zainol Fadzi
Paharuddin, Datuk Ramly
Zahari, Hamidah Osman, Datuk
Saarani Mohamad, Mohd Zahir
Abdul Khalid and Dr Mah Hang
Soon brought the case to the
Federal Court under Article 44
of the Perak Constitution to seek
a declaration that Sivakumar’s
suspension order was null and
void. They initially filed an
originating summons at the High
Court, seeking a declaration that
their suspension was null and
void.
Zambry’s counsel, Firoz
Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin,
told reporters he saw this as a
landmark decision.
He said the speaker should not
have issued the suspension order
on Zambry as he was appointed
mentri besar by a proclamation
of the Sultan Perak, Sultan Azlan
Shah.
He said with the decision,
the two suits at the High Court
in Ipoh against Sivakumar on
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Friday
April 17, 2009
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the Perak Constitution had been
disposed of – namely yesterday’s
case and the suit by the three
assemblymen, who quit their
parties to become independents,
which was disposed of by the
Federal Court last Thursday.
Zambry’s other counsel,
Datuk Hafarizam Harun, said
the decision meant Zambry
and the executive councillors
could now attend the assembly
meeting which has to be held
before May 13.
When asked if the decision
affected Datuk Seri Mohd Ni-
zar Jamaluddin’s suit against
Zambry, which was fixed for
hearing on May 5 at the High
Court in Kuala Lumpur, he said
Mohd Nizar should withdraw his
action. Mohd Nizar is seeking a
judicial review on the legitimacy
of Zambry’s appointment.
Hafrizam said the Fed-
eral Court decision meant that
Zambry was the rightful MB.
Sivakumar’s counsel Sulaim-
an Abdullah said the speaker had
no intention to breach the law
and his suspension order against
sports
BERNAMAPIC
Soft landing...
A POLICE officer
conducting investigations
at the edge of a rice
field where a car and a
motorcycle landed after
an accident at Km9.5 of
the Kangar-Mengkuang
Layar road on Wednesday
evening. Two people (the
motorcyclist and a front
seat passenger) died when
the vehicles collided. The
rider, Alif Asraff Abdullah
Suhaimi, 24, and car
passenger Mohamad
Tarmizi Ali, 20, died at the
scene of the accident.
The driver of the car and
another passenger were
treated at Hospital Tuanku
Fauziah for injuries.
Zambry and the six was right.
When asked what would
happen in the next assembly
meeting, Sulaiman said: “We just
wait and see what will happen
because the speaker is still in the
sitting.”
He also said that in this case,
nobody had won or lost because
during the assembly sitting, the
speaker still had the power to
conduct the proceedings.
Sulaiman added that he would
take instruction from Sivakumar
on whether to file for a review of
the decision.
In Lumut, Zambry called on
the Opposition in Perak to accept
the Federal Court decision. He,
however, could not say when
the assembly will convene but
did not discount the possibility
that notice to the effect would be
issued tomorrow or early next
week.
The state assembly has to sit
before May 13 and the speaker
can ask for the consent of the
Sultan of Perak to dissolve the
assembly if it did not convene by
that date. – Bernama