MIC vice-president C. Sivarraajh is still the Cameron Highlands MP, pending his appeal against an election court ruling that declared the seat vacant, said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.

“He is still the Cameron Highlands MP as the Election Commission has not declared the seat vacant pending his appeal at the Federal Court,” Ariff said in Parliament today.

The Election Court had found Sivarraajh guilty of bribing Orang Asli voters in the run-up to the 14th general election on May 9.

The former Court of Appeal judge had told Sivarraajh he had to stay out pending clarification on whether the Election Court had issued a stay order on its declaration that the Cameron Highlands seat would remain vacant until the appeal process was concluded.

The speaker said he wanted to clear the air over the seat’s status and did not want to set an unclear precedent on how to deal with such issues in the future. 

But in Dewan Rakyat today, Ariff said he had reviewed the decision after considering Sivarraajh’s arguments and notes from the Election Court proceedings on November 30.

“After considering the facts, I found that the main issue was whether the Election Court’s decision to declare the election for the Cameron Highlands seat was void on November 30 was enough to determine whether Sivarraajh was still the MP. 

“After the judge initially decided on the status of the Cameron Highlands seat, the court has 14 days to inform the EC of its decision. During this period, Sivarraajh also has the right to appeal to the Federal Court.

“And if he appeals, the decision to instruct the EC to hold a by-election will be suspended until the Federal Court has decided on the appeal. 

“Unless the EC receives an instruction from the courts, it cannot announce the vacancy. As such, the Cameron Highlands MP can continue to attend Parliament sittings until the Federal Court has decided on the appeal,” said Ariff.

Opposition leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Bagan Datoh-BN) hailed the decision as professional and one that vindicated opposition MPs, who had earlier protested against Ariff’s move.

“The government backbenchers should accept this as a victory for the people,” said Zahid.

“I have given my orders and the matter ends here. This is a victory for the courts,” said Ariff. – December 10, 2018.