Fate of four Penang assemblymen to be decided today

GEORGETOWN - The fate of the four Penang State Legislative Assemblymen who left Pakatan Harapan (PH) and joined Perikatan Nasional (PN) will be decided today.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the matter would be discussed in Penang Government Meeting (MMK) after the Federal Court ruled out that the State Constitution prevented party hopping in accordance with the Federal Constitution.

“We will discuss the next action to be taken in the Penang Exco Meeting on Friday (today).

“The decision is welcome as it requires the court to revise the previous decision that was almost the same, relating to the anti-party hopping law in Kelantan which was decided to be unconstitutional about 30 years ago,” he said in a statement.

Previously, Seberang Jaya assemblyman Dr Afif Bahardin (former PKR representative); Sungai Acheh assemblyman Zulkifli Ibrahim (former PKR representative), Bertam Assemblyman Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq (Bersatu) and Teluk Bahang assemblyman Zolkifly Md Lazim (Bersatu) have filed an injunction against Penang legislature body from approving the motion to vacate their respective seats after they decided to support PN.

The four assemblymen also filed lawsuits to stop their seats from being vacated.

However, the idea was postponed due to the spread of Covid-19, aside from the suspension of state elections due to the pandemic.

On Wednesday, a panel of seven Federal Court judges ruled that the provisions under the Penang anti-party hopping enactment were legal and constitutional.

In the meantime, the four assemblymen announced in a joint statement that they would instruct lawyers to revise the matter to enable them to carry out their duties as usual.

“We were informed about the Federal Court decision which declared that Article 14A of the Penang Constitution did not violate the right to freedom of association enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

“Hence, the Federal Court has put aside the law that has been intact for 30 years.

"We respect the decision, but we do not agree with it. Therefore, we will instruct our lawyers to review the matter," they said.