KUALA LUMPUR – Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has initiated legal action against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the government over an alleged decision to cancel RM730,000 worth of funds for his parliamentary constituency.
According to a judicial review application filed at the high court on April 23 by the former Muda president and three other applicants, they are seeking a certiorari order to overturn the respondents’ supposed decision.
The three other applicants – Najib Abu Nawar, Mohd Bakirudin Abdullah and Muhamad Fadzly Bisri – are voters in the Muar constituency who claim to have been negatively impacted by the respondents’ supposed actions.
A certiorari order refers to a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency.
Law firm Messrs Lim Wei Jiet represented the judicial review applicants.
The applicants are also seeking a certiorari order to strike out the respondents’ alleged decision to cancel Syed Saddiq’s access to the MyKHAS system, which managed a RM2-million development application for his parliamentary constituency.
Along with the former youth and sports minister, the applicants are also requesting costs and compensation as well as a mandamus order compelling the respondents to properly fulfil their duties by channelling constituency allocation funds which were previously approved.
In his affidavit, Syed Saddiq claimed that right after Muda announced its decision to withdraw its support for the unity government on September 10 last year, allocations for his constituency were halted or cancelled.
He also alleged that despite two negotiation sessions up until April this year with a “TMP II” as a representative of the respondents, the respondents had still failed or refused to channel parts of the constituency allocations for the Muar parliamentary constituency
Syed Saddiq noted that five opposition lawmakers who switched their allegiances to Anwar immediately received their full constituency allocations.
The MPs Syed Saddiq named are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tg Karang).
On April 18, five days before Syed Saddiq filed the judicial review application, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof announced that the government would draft a memorandum of understanding concerning funds for opposition MPs to support their constituencies.
The unanimous decision was reached at the unity government leadership council’s meeting the previous day, which was chaired by Anwar and attended by the leaders of component parties in the government.
Subsequently, opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said that Perikatan Nasional would study the draft terms of the MoU first before deciding on whether or not to accept the funds. – May 3, 2024