A NINE-MEMBER Federal Court bench today reserved its decision to a later date in the appeals by the Sarawak assembly (DUN) and two others over the disqualification of Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon due to his alleged dual citizenship. 

Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who chaired the bench, deferred the court’s decision to a date to be fixed after the court heard submissions from parties in the appeal.

The Sarawak legislature, its speaker Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar and Second Sarawak Finance Minister Wong Soon Koh were appealing against the decision of the high court and Court of Appeal that overturned the state assembly’s decision to disqualify Ting.

The other judges on the bench were Court of Appeal President Rohana Yusuf, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak David Wong Dak Wah and Federal Court judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Nallini Pathmanathan, Ong Lam Kiat, Abdul Rahman Sebli, Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof and Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.

Earlier, lawyer Cecil Abraham representing Asfia argued that Ting cannot continue to sit in the assembly even though he had renounced his Australian citizenship. 

He said Ting’s act of renouncing his Australian citizenship did not have the legal result in him being qualified to run as a candidate at an election.

Abraham said Ting’s acquisition of Australian citizenship and subsequent renouncing it were not a redeemable act.

“A disqualification must be preceded by a qualification. A person must be qualified first before he can be subsequently disqualified. If one is already disqualified, what is there left to be disqualified?” said Abraham, in quoting the judgment by then Court of Appeal judge Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim (now Federal Court judge). 

Article 17 (1) (g) of the Sarawak constitution stipulates that a person is disqualified from being elected as a member of the assembly if he has voluntarily acquired citizenship or exercise right of citizenship in any country outside the federation or has made a declaration of allegiance to any country outside the federation.

Sarawak Attorney-General Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid submitted that at the time the motion to disqualify Ting arose, the decision was made during the DUN sitting and hence it was non-justiciable. 

Ting’s counsel, Chong Siew Chiang, submitted that there was no continuity of the disqualification factor if a person has renounced his foreign citizenship.

He said the decision of the assembly was justiciable and the court has the power to intervene.

“The speaker and the assembly had acted and stepped without and beyond their power. In which case, the court has the power to intervene,” he said.

The three appellants were granted leave by the Federal Court, in July this year, to appeal. Seven legal questions were posed for determination of the Federal Court.

Ting was disqualified as an assemblyman on May 12, 2017, following a motion tabled by the Sarawak Minister for International Trade and E-Commerce and Wong Soon Koh for allegedly having dual Australian and Malaysian citizenship.

He then filed an originating summons at the Kuching High Court on June 7, 2017, to challenge the assembly’s decision. 

On June 17, 2017, the high court ruled that it was unlawful for the assembly to disqualify Ting as Pujut assemblyman, and on July 13, 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that the assembly had exceeded its power in denouncing Ting’s membership as an assemblyman on the basis of his dual citizenship, which Ting had given up before being nominated as a candidate for Pujut. – Bernama, December 11, 2019.