Sou has not yet resumed lawmaker post

Lawmaker Sulu Sou has not yet resumed his position at the Legislative Assembly (AL) despite expectations that he would resume his post yesterday.

However, as has been his habit for the past months, the suspended lawmaker was in the seats reserved for the audience. Sou revealed the reason for his absence from the AL meeting to the media, stating that even though the Court of First Instance (TJB) has confirmed the withdrawal of his appeal, the AL has not yet received the confirmation from the court regarding the ruling. Because of this, Sou could not resume his duty as a lawmaker.

Sou stated that he has completed all procedures required by the court, including paying the fine set out in the TJB ruling.

Yesterday, before the AL plenary meeting began, Sou submitted the necessary documents to AL. However, he commented that he can only wait until the relevant procedures are completed before he is able to return to the AL.

During Sou’s trial, he disclosed that he was still involved in four other legal cases.

In response to the question of whether he is worried about being charged for aggravated disobedience, Sou commented that “uncertainty exists in many things” and that he cannot be worried about the currently ongoing cases.

“I can only get my things done and regard these [legal cases] as a test of willpower,” declared Sou.

Lawmaker Pereira Coutinho, while questioning the Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan, during the AL meeting, asked if the government would consider expediting the administrative processes to notify the parties involved of a court verdict.

“Why is this colleague [Sou] not participating in today’s meeting? It’s a consequence of bureaucracy. He already paid his fine, but he has not yet received proof [of fine settlement]. If the Prosecution Office does not [send the document] to the relevant department, he cannot return to AL,” said Coutinho.

“The lawmaker was suspended exactly because of bureaucracy. What do you [Chan] think? Can the government use email or internet to make such notification?” he pressed.

Chan later said that “regarding the case of the lawmaker, I believe that the court has been carrying out its work according to the law.”

Ho: ‘I hope nobody is missing’

HO IAT Seng, chairman of AL, said that if he had received the final judgments from the court before yesterday’s AL started, Sulu Sou could have attended yesterday’s AL plenary meeting.  “As the AL chairman, I hope nobody is missing. It’s not about welcome [Sulu Sou] or not,” said Ho, who also noted that he has “no opinion” regarding Sulu Sou’s other cases.