KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 ― Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan has filed his second suit in relation to the Emergency, this time for judicial review of Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun’s endorsement for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s advice to the Yang di-Pertuan for an Emergency.
In the filing that Malay Mail sighted, Khairuddin asserted that Muhyiddin was in no position to advise the Agong to declare the Emergency after seemingly losing majority support in Parliament. He argued that the AG should have made this known to the Agong.
Khairuddin, through his ex-parte application, posed six constitutional matters for the courts’ attention, based on Article 43(4) of the Federal Constitution on steps to be taken after the PM loses majority support, and Article 145(2) that spells out the AG’s responsibilities as the country’s legal advisor.
The first is for the courts to declare that Idrus, as the AG, must at all times provide appropriate and accurate legal advice to the Agong and the PM, and that it must always seek to uphold the Federal Constitution.
The application, which was submitted to the courts yesterday, was filed by Khairuddin through the Messrs Haniff Khatri legal firm.
Khairuddin’s second matter was for the court to decide whether Idrus, with the pre-established responsibility as the government’s legal adviser, had acted unconstitutionally when he accompanied Muhyiddin on Jan 11 to advise the Agong to declare the state of Emergency.
His third point sought for the court to establish if Idrus had failed to notify Muhyiddin on the correct steps to be taken after Jan 9, saying the AG should have, according to Article 43(4), advised the PM to request an audience with the Agong and then decide to either resign from the post or to dissolve Parliament.
The fourth asked the courts to decide if Idrus failed in his role as the AG post Jan 9, when he did not notify the Agong that Muhyiddin no longer commanded majority support and therefore was no longer qualified to offer any form of advice to the monarch as the prime minister.
Khairuddin goes on to spell out in his affidavit that another defining factor supporting his assertion of Muhyiddin having lost the majority was the withdrawal of Umno’s Padang Rengas MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz’s support for the government on Jan 12.
According to Khairuddin, with Nur Jazlan and Nazri withdrawing their support from Muhyiddin and PN, and taking into account two MPs who passed away recently, namely Batu Sapi’s Liew Vui Keong and Gerik’s Datuk Hasbullah Osman, Muhyiddin is left with the support of only 109 MPs, which made his a minority government.
Khairuddin’s fifth and sixth matters asked the courts to issue a mandamus orders compelling Idrus, as the AG, to inform and advise Muhyiddin he could no longer remain as the PM and to request an audience to communicate this to the Agong.
The papers for Khairuddin’s lawsuit included that the case was filed by him in the capacity of a lawful private taxpayer without mentioning any political affiliation.
Previously, a similar suit was filed by Khairuddin, where he had asked the courts to decide whether a prime minister who no longer has the majority support of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat can still advise the Agong to proclaim an Emergency or suspend Parliament sittings.
Khairuddin, after leaving Bersatu became a member of Parti Amanah Negara, and had July last year withdrawn from Pakatan Harapan.
Khairuddin, who is known to be a loyalist to Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is not currently known to have any affiliation to any political party.
Recently, Dewan Rakyat Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also filed his own lawsuit, which was followed by three more opposition lawmakers, in their bids to contest the constitutionality of the Emergency Declaration and the processes surrounding it.