KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has posed further questions for the High Court to consider referring to the Federal Court with regard to his judicial review application on the cabinet's advice, led by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to suspend Parliament sitting during the emergency period.

The questions were filed in an application as part of the judicial review application, demanding the Federal Court to decide on the matters raised, according to Bukit Gelugor member of Parliament Ramkarpal Singh, who is leading the suit by Messrs Karpal Singh & Co on behalf of Anwar.

The questions are as follows:
1. Whether the decision to give the advice and/or the advice given by cabinet led by the prime minister to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to suspend Parliament is subjected to the ouster clauses in Article 150 of the Federal Constitution;
2. Whether the decision to give the advice and/or the advice given by cabinet led by the prime minister to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to suspend Parliament is reviewable by the courts;
3. Whether section 39(2) of the Malaysia Act, 1963 (Act 26/1963), section 15(d) of the Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1981 (Act A514), Article 150 (6) and (8) of the Federal Constitution are inconsistent and/or in contravention to Articles 4, 5, 8 and 121(1) of the Federal Constitution;
4. Whether the inherent jurisdiction of the courts, including the powers of review in relation to procedure, can be completely inhibited/ousted, by the Legislature.

"I am of the view the questions raised above ought to be decided by the Federal Court and having regard to the urgency of the matter, particularly since Parliament is now suspended. I have also filed a certificate of urgency for the matter to be heard soonest," Ramkarpal said in a statement today.

On Jan 26, Anwar initiated the filing of a judicial review application to seek leave in declaring that the advice to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to suspend Parliament sitting during the emergency period was unconstitutional and against the law.

Ramkarpal clarified then that the application was not to challenge the emergency proclamation but the decision by the prime minister, through his cabinet, to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to approve Section 14 of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 that suspends Parliament sitting for the duration of the emergency.

Anwar added that the advice given by the cabinet to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare an emergency for the first time in October — which was refused by the monarch — was nothing more than a ruse to save Muhyiddin's post as prime minister and indicated that there already were sufficient measures then and now under the existing law to control the Covid-19 pandemic.