It’s official, Anwar no longer MP, says deputy speaker

Parliament today formally announced that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is no longer the Permatang Pauh MP.

Deputy speaker Datuk Ismail Mohd Said said the opposition leader lost his eligibility as a federal lawmaker as of March 16, when the Pardon's Board rejected a royal pardon application by Anwar's family members.

"I am announcing the decision of Anwar's petition appeal and in this matter, the petition has been decided on March 16 where his five-year jail sentence is to continue.

"As such, he has lost his eligibility as the Permatang Pauh member of Parliament," he told the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

Yesterday, Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said the Election Commission had been notified following vacancy of the seat.

The polls body said it would meet on April 8 to decide on the nomination and polling dates for the Permatang Pauh by-election.

Anwar's family filed the petition seeking a royal pardon after his five-year jail sentence for sodomy was upheld by the Federal Court on February 10.

Anwar was found guilty of a charge of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in a condominium unit at Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, in 2008.

On March 27, sources told The Malaysian Insider that the application by Anwar's wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and daughter Nurul Izzah was disposed of on March 16, but it was not known whether they had been officially notified.

Anwar's last legal option is to file a judicial review with the Federal Court. His lawyers said no decision had been made yet on such an application.

The decision by the Pardon's Board came after a series of #KitaLawan rallies in Kuala Lumpur organised by PKR. – April 2, 2015.