Federal Court to rule Dec 11 whether DUN has power to disqualify rep

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Wong addresses the press conference at his office.

KUCHING: A nine-member Federal Court bench will decide Dec 11 whether the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) has the power to disqualify an elected representative.

Padungan assemblyman Wong King Wei, who is one of the attorneys involved in the hearing, told a press conference yesterday that it was indeed rare to have a nine-member bench in the Federal Court.

“Normally there will be five to six members. Even seven members in a Federal Court are seldom heard of,” he said.

The hearing is to decide whether DUN Sarawak has the power to disqualify an elected state representative and whether a person who has acquired foreign citizenship but renounced it before nomination day can stand elected.

Wong said it would take place at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya as no courtroom in the state could accommodate a nine-member bench.

The hearing involves Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon, who was disqualified as an elected representative on May 12, 2017, following a motion tabled by then-Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.

Dr Ting then filed an Originating Summons in the Kuching High Court on June 7 that same year to challenge the decision by DUN Sarawak to disqualify him.

The High Court subsequently ruled against the DUN’s decision to disqualify Dr Ting as Pujut assemblyman.

In July last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals of the DUN, DUN Speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar and Wong, ruling that the DUN had exceeded its power when it disqualified Dr Ting on the basis of his dual citizenship, which Dr Ting had given up before being nominated as a candidate.

However later the same month, the Federal Court granted the DUN’s application for leave to appeal against the decision of the High Court and Court of Appeal.