Warisan defectors keep seats
Published on: Friday, June 24, 2022
By: Jo Ann Mool
Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan’s attempt to challenge the defections of its elected representatives to other parties received a blow, Thursday, when the High Court, struck out its suit to declare the Sebatik seat vacant.Sebatik Assemblyman Hassan Gani Pengiran Amir (pic) is allowed to keep his seat despite his resignation from the party on Feb 25, last year and having signed pledges of loyalty to the party.
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Judge Wong Siong Tong, in delivering his decision ruled that:
“An elected member of legislature should be free to act according to the best of his or her ability and his independent judgement should not be legally constrained by obligations to either his party or to the electorate or subject to dictates of anybody.
“Any arrangement that fetters or deprives such freedom of elected members of the legislature will be contrary to public policy and unlawful.
“Any causes of action based on such arrangement to deprive such freedom cannot be sustained in law.
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“The appropriate of penalty of the elected member of legislature for broken political promises is for the voters or electors to consider voting differently at the next opportunity.”
According to Hassan’s counsel, Tengku Datuk Ahmad Fuad Burhanuddin, the court allowed Hassan’s application to strike out the suit with costs to Hassan, the defendant, of RM5,000.
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The plaintiff, Datuk Loretto S. Padua Jr was suing as the Warisan Secretary General for and on behalf of Warisan filed the suit on April 2021 against Hassan for failing to resign from his seat upon his defection from the party.
Among others, Warisan was seeking a court decision to compel the defendant to honour his pre-signed resignation letter as Sebatik Assemblyman.
In his pleadings, Padua sought to enforce an alleged ‘Pledge of Loyalty’ and ‘pre-signed undated letter of resignation’ both of which, were allegedly undertaken and signed by Hassan.
According to Padua’s claim, Hassan was under a special obligation or equitable duty to vacate his seat in the event that he broke the alleged Pledge of Loyalty.
Fuad, argued that “Warisan through so-called Pledges of Loyalty and undated, allegedly pre-signed resignation letters engaged in an unlawful scheme the aim of which, was to control, curtail and fetter an Adun’s constitutional right under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution to associate with, or disassociate from, any political party.”
“When it became clear to my client that Warisan could not meet the needs of nor bring development to his constituents, he lawfully and correctly, exercised his constitutional rights and disassociated himself from Warisan.
“The right of an ADUN to put the best interests of his or her constituents first, is fundamental to Malaysia’s system of parliamentary democracy. The needs of a political party must never come before the interests of the people.”
Together with Fuad in representing Hassan was counsel Wilson Chang while Padua was represented by counsel Goldam Hamid and Syful Sufyian Sidin.
Warisan won 23 of the 73 state seats in the state assembly during the 2020 snap state polls but these were reduced after Hassan who was the first to defect and followed by others left the party.
Warisan has also initiated similar legal actions against the other assemblymen who had since aligned themselves with GRS parties.
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