Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 4): The High Court has dismissed an application by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s newly formed Malaysian United Democratic Alliance's (MUDA) bid for a judicial review against the goverment’s decision not to register the party.

Judge Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya ruled that the former youth and sports minister’s party did not utilise all avenues before commencing court action after the Registrar of Societies (RoS) rejected the bid to be registered as a political party.

Justice Mariana said that the party should have sought an appeal with Home Affairs Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin within 30 days of the rejection instead of filing an appeal with the courts.

Justice Mariana said that MUDA had not exhausted the avenues for appeal provided under the Societies Act 1966, adding that the applicant was ordered to pay costs of RM2,000.

The decision was delivered today in proceedings via Zoom, with former Attorney General (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas representing MUDA and Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambali appearing on behalf of the government.

MUDA, a party started by Syed Saddiq and 12 other founding members, is seeking to challenge the RoS decision to refuse its registration as a party.

In his affidavit sighted by theedgemarkets.com, Syed Saddiq claimed that Hamzah, who oversees the RoS, told him that his party would be registered and approved if he pledges to support the current Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.

Syed Saddiq also claimed that Hamzah asked him to refrain from voting on government bills he opposed as part of the deal. The Muar Member of Parliament (MP) claimed that this took place during a budget meeting when he enquired Hamzah about his party’s application.

After that, Syed Saddiq said the party’s application was rejected on Jan 6 via an email from the RoS, but no reason was given for the rejection.

Edited ByLam Jian Wyn
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