KUALA LUMPUR, 23 Oct 2009: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s Tian Chua remains the Member of Parliament for Batu as long as the judicial process of appeal is still pending, said Election Commission (EC) chairperson Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusuf.
He was asked to comment on the position of Chua or Chua Tian Chang who was jailed for six months and fined RM3,000 by a magistrate’s court here yesterday for biting a police constable during a Coalition for Clean and Fair Election (Bersih) gathering in front of Parliament in December 2007.
Abdul Aziz told Bernama: “I was made to understand from the media that he is making an appeal. As far as we are concerned, the process (appeal) is not final yet. So he remains as MP.”
The court decision could cost the PKR strategic director his seat since Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution provides that a person is disqualified from being an MP if he or she has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than one year’s jail or fined more than RM2,000, and “has not received a free pardon”.
Abdul Aziz said although the EC was monitoring the case, it would only act on the matter upon receiving an official report from the Parliament’s Speaker. — Bernama
