We'll challenge ruling, says EC

2009/11/18

Sulok Tawie and Regina Lee

KUCHING: The Election Commission will challenge right up to the apex court the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling to declare as vacant the Kota Siputeh state seat in Kedah. The Kuala Lumpur High Court is due to hear an application by the commission for a stay of the order on Friday.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the commission was entitled under the law to exercise its right to appeal against the court’s decision.

“Until we have exercised our right, we will not hold the byelection.” The EC has 10 days, from Monday, to decide on the date of the by-election if it does not wish to appeal the court’s decision.

“If we fail in the Federal Court, we will hold a meeting to decide on the nomination and polling dates to hold a by-election in Kota Siputeh,” he said when paying a courtesy call on Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud here yesterday.

Aziz said the EC would be seeking the advice of the attorneygeneral throughout the legal process.

“We will also wait for legal advice before proceeding with any action beyond our application for the stay of order on Friday.” Asked if the commission would take it all the way up to the Federal Court if their appeal was rejected, he said that hewould seek legal advice first.

“We will follow the law until the end. But if the seat is still declared vacant, we will definitely be prepared for a by-election. That is our function and our duty anyway.” On Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court declared the state seat vacant and held that the assemblyman, Datuk Abu Hassan Sarif, had been absent from two consecutive state assembly meetings without the permission of the speaker.

Abu Hassan was absent from the assembly meeting on April 19 and Aug 9 this year.

Earlier, the EC had decided that Abu Hassan was absent from two consecutive state assembly meetings during different terms.

Judge Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin held that the EC had acted irrationally when declaring therewas no vacancy in the Kota Siputeh seat and retaining Abu Hassan as the elected representative.

Alizatul said that the EC had misconstrued the meaning of “two consecutive meetings” under the Kedah constitution and ruled that the two meetings Abu Hassan did not attend fell within the same term as defined under the Kedah constitution.

Aziz said that he accepted the court’s decision but said there was no precedent where a state seat had been declared vacant because the assemblyman was absent at assembly meetings.