PETALING JAYA: PKR youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has disagreed with former attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Talib Othman’s opinion that no one has the legal authority to direct the prison authorities to produce Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in parliament.
He maintained that Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi was the final and legal authority to decide whether Anwar could attend Dewan Rakyat's first sitting of the year, which begins on March 9.
“We disagree with what Abdul Talib said. We still believe that the Home Ministry can provide the permission for Anwar to appear in Parliament pending his application for a royal pardon,” he said during a press conference at PKR’s headquarters here today.
Abdul Talib told a news portal today that neither the Dewan Rakyat speaker nor the home minister had the power to grant Anwar leave from jail to attend the upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting.
"I don't think the law has been amended to allow the speaker and the minister to order that a convicted member of parliament to attend proceedings," he said, adding that Anwar had been sentenced by a court of law in accordance with the Federal Constitution and the applicable law.
Yesterday, a non-governmental organisation representing a group of lawyers had argued that the request by Anwar, who is opposition leader, to attend the upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting could be deemed an insult to the judiciary.
Malaysian Volunteer Lawyers Association (SukaGuam) chairman Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat had said allowing the Permatang Pauh MP to attend Parliament session was tantamount to a “mockery of the judiciary”, as he had been convicted of sodomy.
Khairul was quoted as saying that regardless of the status and position, an offender should serve his sentence, and the PKR de facto leader should not be an exception.