THE Court of Appeal sitting in Putrajaya today dismissed Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon’s motion to strike out the Sarawak legislative assembly’s appeal against the Kuching High Court’s decision to reinstate him as a legally elected assemblyman.

The court also dismissed Dr Ting’s appeal to strike out the appeals filed by Sarawak legislative assembly Speaker Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar and Bawang Assan assemblyman Wong Soon Koh, said Asfia’s counsel, Shanker Ram.

Wong had moved the motion to disqualify the Marudi-born assemblyman.

Dr Ting had named Asfia as the first defendant, the state assembly as the second and Wong, who is also Sarawak’s second finance minister, as the third when he challenged his May 12 disqualification in court.

The state assembly, voting along partisan lines, had, on May 12, voted to disqualify Dr Ting as a member of the legislature over his alleged dual citizenship and bankruptcy in Australia, but on June 17, the High Court overturned the assembly’s decision on the grounds that the principle of natural justice was not observed and Dr Ting was not given a fair hearing.

High Court judge Douglas Cristo Primus Sikayun, in his ruling, said the speaker had acted unconstitutionally and “beyond his powers” in the proceeding in the assembly.

The appeal will now be heard on October 26 in Kuching.

“The Court of Appeal’s decision today finds Dr Ting and his legal team to be wanting,” Ram said, referring to the series of statements and media interviews given by Dr Ting and his counsel on the appeals before the hearing.

“Are they prepared to say they are wrong? As lawyers, they must hold some responsibility,” he said, referring to statements like those made by state DAP chairman Chong Chien Jen in June, where he said the Sarawak legislative assembly had no authority to make an appeal without a resolution authorising it.

Chong had also sent a letter to Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg for an emergency meeting of the state assembly to be held to make that resolution.

State Assistant Minister for Law, Federal-State Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali had earlier explained that the assembly’s appeal was to define the constitutional boundaries of the legislature and judiciary under the concept of separation of powers in relation to Article 72(1) of the Federal Constitution.

Article 72 (1) states that “the validity of any proceeding in the legislative assembly of any state shall not be questioned in any court”.

The 51 year-old Dr Ting was disqualified after the state legislature, where more than two thirds of its members are from Barisan Nasional, voted 70 to 10 in favour of a ministerial motion tabled to boot him out for breaching Article 17(1)(g) of the state constitution.

Article 17(1)(g) states that “a person is disqualified from being elected as an elected member of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (state legislative assembly) if he has voluntarily acquired citizenship of or exercised the rights of citizenship of, and has made a declaration of allegiance to, any country outside the federation”.

Sikayun, in his ruling, also said the proper forum in which to hear Dr Ting’s case was the Election Court, and not the state assembly.

After last year’s state elections, BN candidate Hii King Chiong had, on June 16 of the same year, tried to disqualify Dr Ting at the Election Court on the grounds that he was an Australian citizen at the time of the polls.

Hii, however, had his case thrown out on technical grounds.

In hearing the preliminary objections on October 15 last year, the court dismissed the petition on the grounds that Hii had paid the RM10,000 security deposit with a cheque instead of cash as required by law, and failed to file three copies of the petition to the court, instead, filing only one.

Dr Ting won the predominantly Chinese Pujut seat in a four-cornered fight with a 1,759-vote majority.

He received 8,899 votes, or 52.57% of the votes, to see off his nearest rival, BN’s “direct candidate” Hii, who got 7,140 votes.

The other two candidates were Jofri Jaraiee of PAS, who received 513 votes, and independent Fong Pau Teck, who garnered 357 votes. – October 4, 2017.