Syed Saddiq loses appeal to reinstate constituency funds

Syed Saddiq loses appeal to reinstate constituency funds

PETALING JAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld the dismissal of Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s bid to challenge the government’s withdrawal of constituency funds to MPs.

A three-member panel led by Justice Hashim Hamzah unanimously affirmed that the judicial review application filed by Syed Saddiq and three others last year was time-barred.

“The application, filed on April 23, 2024, was clearly out of time. We find that the High Court judge did not err in fact or in law in reaching that conclusion.

“As the main issue has been decided, the remaining side issues are no longer relevant.

“The High Court’s decision is affirmed and the appellants’ appeal is dismissed. We make no order as to costs, given that this case involves public interest,” Hashim said during proceedings held via Zoom.

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The other judges on the panel were Justices Azmi Ariffin and Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz.

Hashim said Syed Saddiq and his co-appellants were aware that a decision regarding the allocations was made on Sept 10, 2023 — the same day Muda, Syed Saddiq’s party, withdrew from the government.

The panel agreed with the government’s argument that the three-month window to challenge its decision had lapsed by Dec 10, 2023.

On Dec 24 last year, Chief Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, then a High Court judge, ruled that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter as the application was filed out of time.

Syed Saddiq and three Muar voters — Najib Abu Nawar, Bakirudin Abdullah, and Fadzly Bisri — filed the judicial review on April 23, last year.

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They named the prime minister and the Malaysian government as the first and second respondents.

The group was seeking to quash the government’s decision to withhold RM500,000 from a RM1.7 million allocation meant for the Muar parliamentary service centre to fund welfare, community and disaster relief programmes.

They also asked the court to reinstate Syed Saddiq’s access to the MyKHAS system, which managed a RM2 million development fund for the constituency, and to reverse the cancellation of several approved projects worth RM230,300.

The applicants further challenged the government’s refusal to allocate funds to Syed Saddiq for 2024 programmes under Projek Mesra Rakyat and similar initiatives.

They contended that the decision violated Syed Saddiq’s right to equality as the MP for Muar and the constitutional rights of the three voters under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.

Counsel Lim Wei Jiet represented the appellants, while senior federal counsel Nurhafizza Azizan appeared for the respondents.