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KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has lost his final court battle to declare as unlawful his dramatic sacking in 1998, his lawyer said on Monday.
Anwar was sacked from his posts as deputy premier and finance minister by then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad in September 1998. Anwar launched a legal suit the same year, arguing the move was unconstitutional.
The case has been rejected twice by the lower courts in 1998 and 2007, and the Federal Court - the country's highest court - upheld the decision on Monday, saying the dismissal was executed lawfully.
"We are most disappointed but not surprised with the decision," Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair told AFP.
"The court rules that the king is a constitutional monarch, he has to act on the advice of the prime minister and the king does not have power of his own," the counsel added.
Anwar, who now leads a three-party opposition alliance, has argued in court that the king had not approved his removal on the same day he was sacked - a requirement under Malaysia's constitution.
He said the king only signed the revocation of his appointment on September 5 and not September 2, the day of his dismissal.
Anwar said the court's decision "was almost a foregone conclusion".
"It's a sad case for the judiciary," he told a press conference.
Anwar was sacked in 1998 and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges but was released in 2004 after the sexual misconduct count was overturned.
He made a comeback to politics as the leader of a resurgent opposition, which gained unprecedented ground against the long-serving coalition government in 2008 national elections.
The opposition alliance however has been hit by a spate of defections and infighting recently, while Anwar fights new sodomy charges which threaten to end his political career. - AFP/ms
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