KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is still the Member of Parliament for Pekan, said Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.

He said this was in view of the pardon petition filed by Najib under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution last Friday (September 2), which was within 14 days from the date of the Federal Court’s decision.

“Therefore, his disqualification as a Member of Parliament will only take effect as soon as the pardon petition is settled (if the petition is rejected).

“This means that the status of the Honorable Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak as Pekan Member of Parliament has not changed, for now, and will only be finalized when the pardon petition is resolved,” he said in a statement here today.

Azhar said he had acknowledged the submission of documents including a copy of Najib’s pardon application under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution on September 1; copies of letters from Messrs. Shafee & Co dated September 1 attached with the pardon application which was certified received by the Director General of the Legal Affairs Division, Prime Minister’s Department on September 2.

Also received were copies of the respective sealed Criminal Order for Najib’s appeal case at the Federal Court dated last August 23.

Azhar also noted that the Pekan MP’s criminal appeal was rejected by the Federal Court.

“According to Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution, any Member of Parliament who is convicted of an offense by a Federal Court and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one year or fined not less than RM2,000 will be disqualified as a Member of Parliament.

“The validity of Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution is subject to the provisions of Article 48(4) and Article 53(2). In this regard, Article 48(4)(c) provides that if a pardon petition is filed by the Member of Parliament concerned within 14 days from the date the appeal was decided, the disqualification as Member of Parliament will only take effect once the pardon petition is settled (if the petition rejected),” he said.

The Federal Court had on August 23 upheld Najib’s 12-year prison sentence and RM210 million fine for the misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

On July 28, 2020, High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who is now a Court of Appeal Judge, sentenced Najib to 10 years’ jail on each of the three counts of criminal breach of trust and each of the three counts of money laundering and 12 years’ jail and a fine of RM210 million, in default five years imprisonment, for abuse of position.

However, Najib only has to serve a 12-year prison sentence because the judge ordered all the prison sentences to run concurrently.