April 27 set for decision on legal bid seeking PM's resignation
Former Umno leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan will know on April 27 whether he will obtain court leave over a legal action seeking Muhyiddin Yassin’s resignation as prime minister.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court today fixed the decision date for the judicial review leave application by Khairuddin, a stalwart of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Khairuddin is seeking leave to commence judicial review to compel Attorney-General (AG) Idrus Harun to advise Muhyiddin on resigning as premier. This is over Muhyiddin's alleged loss of majority support from MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.
The applicant contended that Muhyiddin no longer had majority support of lawmakers when the latter had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 11 for the purpose of advising His Majesty to issue a proclamation of emergency.
Idrus was part of Muhyiddin’s entourage to the palace that day.
The legal action is separate from Khairuddin’s other one that targets the validity of Muhyiddin’s emergency advice to the Agong.
Judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid set the decision date today after hearing submissions from legal teams of the parties involved in his chambers.
When contacted, Khairuddin’s counsel Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla confirmed the fixed date.
Senior federal counsel S Narkunavathy led the team from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), who represents respondent Idrus.
On Feb 3, Khairuddin filed the judicial review leave application, seeking a mandamus order for Idrus to advise Muhyiddin to seek an audience with the Agong, so that the Bersatu president can announce stepping down as premier.
The applicant claimed that Idrus had failed in his constitutional duty as AG to advise the Agong on Jan 9 that Muhyiddin allegedly lost the majority support of MPs and thus unqualified to give advice to the Agong.
On Jan 9, Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub withdrew his support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration under Muhyiddin, resulting in a drop in PN’s majority to 110 out of 220 lawmakers in Parliament.
Khairuddin also seeks a mandamus order to compel Idrus to advise Muhyiddin that he (Muhyiddin) no longer prima facie has the support of the majority of MPs, following the withdrawal of support not only by Jazlan but also by Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz.
On Jan 12, Nazri announced his retraction of support for Muhyiddin, because the premier’s move to seek the Agong's consent and declare an emergency is an indirect admission that the Pagoh MP has lost his majority support.
Khairuddin further claimed that as a result of Muhyiddin losing majority support of MPs, the premier had no qualification under the Federal Constitution to give advice to the Agong on Jan 11.
On that day, Muhyiddin had an audience with the Agong to advise His Majesty over the declaration of emergency to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following the onset of the emergency, other parties also went to court to challenge Muhyiddin’s advice, including PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and NGO Bersih.
