KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court's stay on Perikatan Nasional's deregistration allows the coalition to carry on as a "fully functioning and operating political party", says its secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.
He was responding to a letter from Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali ahead of the coalition's supreme council meeting tonight.
Rejecting Azmin's reading of the court's grounds of judgment, Takiyuddin said the order deferred enforcement of the Registrar of Societies' suspension order and any further deregistration proceedings until PN's judicial review application is disposed of.
He said the appeal by the Registrar of Societies and the home minister against the stay did not change the coalition's status.
"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 the letter, as reported by Free Malaysia Today.
Azmin had earlier today warned that the meeting could breach the Societies Act 1966, arguing the High Court had held that the stay did not automatically restore the coalition's status.
He said Bersatu believed that with a notice of appeal filed, "all parties should preserve the status quo of the RoS's decision until all levels of proceedings have been exhausted".
Takiyuddin countered that the court had made no order for the appeal to operate as a stay of execution.
He said Bersatu's representatives were still welcome at the meeting to voice their views and vote, as with previous invitations.
If they chose to stay away, he said, that would be the party's own decision and would be recorded as such.
Takiyuddin also responded to Azmin's demand that the coalition's leadership state its position on Bersatu's own supreme council meeting failing to meet quorum.
Azmin had said this was used as an excuse to bar Bersatu from the coalition's July meeting.
Takiyuddin said Perikatan Nasional invited Bersatu to its Sept 20 supreme council meeting after accepting the registrar's ruling that it could not intervene in Bersatu's internal dispute.
But he said "the same standard was not applied" to the coalition, whose own internal affairs, including who could attend its July 16 meeting, became the basis for the notice, suspension and deregistration orders following Bersatu's complaint.
He also disputed Azmin's claim that the registrar had affirmed Bersatu as a legitimate component party in a letter dated Aug 12, saying it had never been provided to the coalition.
"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.
Takiyuddin gave Azmin three days to provide copies of the letter and Bersatu's complaint, including all attachments.
On Oct 22, High Court judge Datuk Azizan Md Arshad allowed PN's application for a stay pending its judicial review challenging the Registrar of Societies' action. Takiyuddin said then that the coalition would invite Bersatu to an upcoming meeting.
The New Straits Times has reached out to Takiyuddin for confirmation of the letter sent to Azmin.
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