KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- The royal pardon granted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 2018 fully restored his eligibility to contest in elections and to hold the office of Prime Minister, said constitutional law expert Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi.
He said the royal pardon under Article 42 (1) of the Federal Constitution effectively removed all legal consequences arising from Anwar’s previous conviction.
“Once there was a free pardon under Article 42(1), all disqualifications under Article 48(1) were removed and there was absolutely no need for His Majesty to issue a new, second order to lift the disqualification,” he stated in an op-ed to Bernama.
Shad Saleem was responding to recent claims by several opposition leaders questioning Anwar’s eligibility to contest elections under Articles 48(1)(e) and 48(3) of the Federal Constitution.
He highlighted that a free or full pardon not only releases a person from serving the sentence but also removes any legal disqualifications.
“It includes those that would otherwise bar the individual from contesting or holding office as a Member of Parliament (MP). Once there is a free pardon, all disqualifications under Article 48(1) are removed.
“There was absolutely no need for His Majesty to issue a second order under Article 48(3),” he said.
He was also citing case law from Malaysia and other Commonwealth countries, including Anwar Ibrahim (2018) and Jeyaratnam v AG (1990) from Singapore and pointed out that a free pardon “wipes the slate clean,” restoring the individual’s full legal standing.
Shad Saleem also referred to the 1969 case of DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, where a royal pardon reinstated his position as an MP after disqualification due to a technical breach by his election agent.
“If this view is correct, that a free pardon wipes the conviction off the slate, then the Article 48(3) removal of disqualification order is absolutely unnecessary, he said.
-- BERNAMA
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