PUTRAJAYA (May 15): The Court of Appeal has fixed Oct 30 this year to hear the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s appeal over the High Court decision in not declaring the casual vacancy of four Sabah parliamentary seats, after the former Bersatu party members switched support to Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

The date was fixed by the appellate court’s senior assistant registrar Nazira Adlin Ahmad Khairul Razi, following case management on Monday (May 13).

Bersatu’s counsel Chethan Jethwani, and senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi representing Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, confirmed the date with The Edge when contacted separately.

On Nov 16 last year, High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh dismissed the judicial review application brought by Bersatu vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee and the party’s organising secretary Datuk Capt (Rtd) Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya against Johari and the four Members of Parliament (MPs), as Amarjeet ruled Johari’s decision as non-justiciable.

“The [High] Court is bound by cases in the Federal Court; namely, it has no jurisdiction to question the decision [of] the Speaker. Hence, this court dismisses the judicial review, and no order is made as to costs,” Amarjeet said.

The four MPs — Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), who is also the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister; Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Datuk Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Datuk Matbali Musah (Sipitang) — had declared their support for GRS and not Bersatu.

The issue arose following the newly constituted Article 49A of the Federal Constitution — the anti-hopping legislation — which was passed during Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun’s time as the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.

It basically stipulates that a member who has resigned or ceases to be a member of a political party after being elected in Dewan Rakyat, shall cease to be a member of that house, and his seat shall become vacant.

Bersatu had named Johari and the four MPs in the judicial review application, challenging Johari’s decision not to declare the seats as vacant, following the four MPs’ switch from Bersatu to GRS after the 15th General Election (GE15) in November 2022.

The issue of the status of the four MPs arose after former Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor announced on Dec 10 that Sabah Bersatu leaders had unanimously decided to leave the party, but would remain under GRS.

Following that, Bersatu’s Ronald said in a statement on Dec 29, 2022, that the party had sent a notice to Johari, confirming that “casual vacancies” had occurred for the four seats, in accordance with Article 49A (3) of the Federal Constitution.

Bersatu, through Ronald, had argued that it had given notice to the Speaker on the occurrence of casual vacancy of the four seats, following the MPs’ move to GRS.

However, Johari ruled that the four need not vacate their seats, as he ruled GRS as not being classified as “another political party” based on the spirit and essence of Article 49A.