PETALING JAYA: The High Court’s order on Thursday staying the deregistration of Perikatan Nasional allows it to continue as a “fully functioning and operating political party”, says PN secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.
Responding to a letter sent by Bersatu secretary-general Azmin Ali earlier today, Takiyuddin said he disagreed with Azmin’s interpretation of the High Court’s grounds of judgment on the coalition’s deregistration.
He said the court order deferred the enforcement of the Registrar of Societies’ (RoS) suspension order and further proceedings to deregister PN, pending the final disposal of its application for judicial review.
The appeal filed by the RoS and the home minister against the stay of deregistration did not affect its status, Takiyuddin said.
“As advised by PN’s panel of lawyers, Rule 13 of the Rules of the Court of Appeal 1994 provides that an appeal does not operate as a stay of execution of the decision being appealed against unless the court so orders,” he said in a letter to Azmin sighted by FMT.
Earlier today, Azmin said the PN supreme council meeting being held tonight could be in breach of the Societies Act 1966, as the High Court had held that the stay did not amount to an automatic restoration of the coalition’s status.
He pointed out that the RoS and the home minister had appealed against the stay, and said Bersatu believed that since a notice of appeal had been filed, “all parties should preserve the status quo of the RoS’s decision until all levels of proceedings have been exhausted”.
However, Takiyuddin said the court had not ordered the notice of appeal filed by the RoS and the home minister to act as a stay of execution.
He said Bersatu's representatives remained welcome to attend tonight’s PN supreme council meeting, where they could express their views and vote, consistent with previous invitations extended to Bersatu for PN meetings.
If Bersatu’s representatives chose not to attend, he said, that would be the party’s own decision and would be recorded as such.
'Different standards applied to PN and Bersatu'
Takiyuddin also responded to Azmin’s demand that the PN leadership state their position on the issue of Bersatu’s own supreme council meeting failing to meet the required quorum, which Azmin said the PN leadership had used as an excuse to deny Bersatu the right to attend the last PN supreme council meeting in July.
He said that since PN had accepted the RoS’s ruling that the registrar could not interfere in the dispute over Bersatu’s supreme council because it was an internal matter, PN had invited Bersatu to its supreme council meeting on Sept 20.
He said “the same standard was not applied” to PN, as its internal affairs, including the question of who had the right to attend its July 16 supreme council meeting, were made the basis of the notice, suspension order, and deregistration order following Bersatu’s complaint.
Takiyuddin also disputed Azmin’s claim that the RoS had affirmed Bersatu’s status as a legitimate component party of PN in a letter dated Aug 12, saying the letter had never been provided to PN.
“If such a letter exists, it was issued a day after Bersatu’s complaint was received by the RoS on or around Aug 11, before any notice was issued to PN and before PN’s explanation dated Aug 19 was considered,” he said.
He asked Azmin to provide PN with a copy of the letter and the complaint lodged by Bersatu with the RoS on or around Aug 11, including all attachments, within three days.
The RoS suspended PN on Sept 23 before deregistering it last Tuesday following a complaint by Bersatu against the coalition’s leadership. The High Court stayed the deregistration two days later.