MIC veep told to leave Dewan Rakyat pending appeal on Camerons seat
Minderjeet Kaur
-December 5, 2018 2:40 PM
MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh.KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof today ordered MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh to leave the hall until he could confirm his appeal against an Election Court decision to nullify his victory in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary constituency in the May 9 general election.
Ariff made the decision after Jelutong MP RSN Rayer asked if Sivarraajh had a stay order on the court decision.
“Do you have a stay order or not?” Ariff asked Sivarraajh, who replied that he would need to check on that.
“I haven’t checked if I can come to the Dewan or not. But I have 14 days to appeal,” he said.
The speaker then advised Sivarraajh to consult a lawyer to decide on filing his appeal.
“Otherwise, you’re a stranger in this House,” he added, a reference to the international parliamentary practice of describing a non-member as a “stranger” and barring him from a legislature’s sitting.
Sivarraajh said he would seek clarification on the matter with his lawyers and meet the speaker after that.
However, Ariff said he needed to make a ruling in this case as it would set a precedent.
“Please leave the House, get the stay order, and send a copy to the speaker’s office,” he sad.
Last Friday, the Election Court in Kuala Lumpur declared Barisan Nasional’s win in Cameron Highlands null and void after finding corrupt practices were committed to induce voters to vote for Sivarraajh.
Sivarraajh had won the seat with 10,307 votes while his nearest rival, DAP’s M Manogaran, polled 9,710. The other candidates were PAS’ Wan Mahadir Wan Mahmud (3,587), PSM’s B Suresh Kumar (680) and Berjasa candidate Mohd Tahir Kassim (81).
