Fed Crt agrees to hear Nizar’s appeal, refuses to grant stay

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has granted Pakatan Rakyat Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin leave to appeal a ruling handed down by the Court of Appeal that Umno’s Zambry Kadir was the rightful chief minister of Perak.

However, the top court refused to grant Nizar a stay of execution on the appellate court’s decision. This means Zambry can continue to act as Menteri Besar until the Federal Court decides on the case.

In a widely condemned move, the Appeals Court had on May 22 overturned a High Court ruling that Nizar was at all material times the rightful Menteri Besar. It also granted Zambry a stay of the May 11 High Court decision.

However, on Thursday, while the Federal Court agreed to hear Nizar’s appeal, the fact that it refused to grant him a similar stay of the Appeals Court’s decision does not bode well for the PAS leader.

Also, only a three-member bench heard his application today, not the five-man team that was agreed on. No explanation was given. The three were Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Arifin Zakaria and Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin.

Nizar had filed his appeal June 19, asking for a full 11-man bench. It was turned down, with Chief Justice Zaki Azmi – a former Umno leader – only permitting a five-man bench.

Of late, Malaysia’s judiciary has come in for a hammering over its decisions, which legal practitioners have slammed as reeking of bias and contrary to the law itself.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has been blamed for pressuring the courts and other public institutions, such as the police, to openly support his political agenda at the expense of their neutrality, destroying public and investor confidence in the country’s system along the way.

In February, Najib had launched an unpopular coup d’etat against the Pakatan state administration. With the support of the Sultan, he wrested control of the state government, forcing Nizar and the Pakatan to respond with a barrage of legal suits. (SK)