"An election candidate sentenced to more than a year in jail and RM2,000 fine can still contest if the candidate was allowed a stay of execution pending appeal".
"If the court has found the person guilty and sentenced him to more than one year imprisonment or more than RM2,000 fine but at the same time allowed stay of execution for appeal, then, he cannot be disqualified because the sentence has not been executed."
"He remains qualified while his appeal is ongoing...but immediately after he exhausts all avenues for appeal and the sentence has to be executed then...of course he will be disqualified."

Parti Keadilan Nasional leaders Mohamed Azmin Ali, Mohamed Ezam Mohamed Noor and Irene Fernandez are not eligible to contest in the 11th general election as they have been convicted for various offences by the court.
Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said that this was clearly stated in the Federal Constitution.
"Just a conviction is enough. It means that an appeal which is pending is not taken into account," he told reporters at the EC headquarters, here Thursday.

"In this instance, in accordance with the Constitution, they cannot contest". "Actually, as they are not eligible, they need not. It's not that the EC is saying (they) cannot, but the law says (they) cannot".

In explaining his about-turn, Abdul Rashid said his earlier comment was made without consulting the commission’s legal department.
"When I made that statement then, I was thinking more of a general interpretation of the law. I had thought that if a person has not suffered from his convictions, he is still able to run.
"But after discussion with my legal officers, I found out that such interpretations cannot be applied to the election law. The law states that once the conviction is delivered the disqualification applies automatically after," he said when contacted.