Najib can attend Dewan Rakyat with permission from Prisons Dept - Speaker

KUALA LUMPUR - Pekan MP Datuk Seri Najib Razak can attend the Dewan Rakyat session while he is undergoing his prison sentence if he gains permission from the Prisons Department.

Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun said he did not have the authority to decide on Najib's attendance in Dewan Rakyat.

"The question now is whether he could attend? It is not under my power because he is not under my care, (but) he is under the care of the Prisons Department.

"So it is up to the Prisons Department to release him from their care. That is not my power.

"My understanding is if the Prisons Department decided to let him go from their care, then they would be the one who would give conditions of the release," he said in Dewan Rakyat on Monday.

Azhar said this in response to a question from Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (PH-Sepang) who suggested Najib should be allowed to attend Parliament even with his hands cuffed because he was still an MP.

Article 48 of the Federal Constitution stated a person could lose their eligibility as an MP if they were found guilty and sentenced to prison for over one year with a fine of more than RM2,000.

However, if a petition for a pardon is filed within 14 days of the conviction and sentence or after the disposal of any appeal or court proceeding regarding it the loss of eligibility applies after the petition is disposed of following Article 48(4)(c).

Najib filed for the royal pardon within 14 days after the conviction.