KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 – The political crisis in Perak triggered by the crossover of three state lawmakers in early February looks set to stretch out into the rest of the year.
The High Court here today fixed September 4 on whether it should hear two lawsuits filed against the Election Commission (EC) to force it to hold by-elections in three state seats.
It also set May 28 for the mention date, which is to give the various parties suing and being sued time to file in their supporting legal documents to the court.
A lawyer for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), which initiated the suit against the EC, told reporters the issue had not been settled in the courts.
“We're challenging whether the EC made the correct decision or not in not declaring a casual vacancy in the three seats. In other words, whether the three assemblymen had resigned or not,” Razlan Hadri told reporters after emerging from the judge's chambers.
“The Federal Court only said the EC is the rightful body to decide whether there is a vacancy. Not that it had made the correct decision or otherwise,” he added, referring to the apex court's judgment on April 9.
Razlan also stressed that the five-men panel of Federal Court judges said their decision was not binding on future cases related to the Perak saga.
The Attorney-General's Chambers had attempted to strike out the suit.
Senior federal counsel Datuk Kamaluddin Md Said told reporters he objected because the Federal Court decision made today's two lawsuits “academic.”
Toppled Perak Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar is suing the election body for not holding by-elections in Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang after he had declared the seats vacant following his decision to accept the undated resignation letters of its three elected representatives.
Sivakumar also named the three state assemblymen, Jamaluddin Md Radzi, Osman Jailu and Hee Yit Foong, in his suit.
He had declared their seats vacant after they publicly broke their ties with PR to become independent state lawmakers loyal to the Barisan Nasional (BN).
A second lawsuit against the EC and the same three assemblymen were filed in early March by another group made up of three former Perak executive councillors (exco) and three Perak citizens.
Chen Fook Chye, S. Sivanesan, Tai Sing Ng were part of the state executive council during PR's 10-month rule which ended in February while Ahmad Sabry, Abdul Latif and Foo Hon Wai are ordinary citizens who are registered voters in the three state seats.
All six claim they have been denied being able to vote in an elected representative of their choice because the EC refused to conform to the assembly speaker's decision and hold by-elections.
MI
28/05/09
The High Court here today fixed September 4 on whether it should hear two lawsuits filed against the Election Commission (EC) to force it to hold by-elections in three state seats.
It also set May 28 for the mention date, which is to give the various parties suing and being sued time to file in their supporting legal documents to the court.
A lawyer for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), which initiated the suit against the EC, told reporters the issue had not been settled in the courts.
“We're challenging whether the EC made the correct decision or not in not declaring a casual vacancy in the three seats. In other words, whether the three assemblymen had resigned or not,” Razlan Hadri told reporters after emerging from the judge's chambers.
“The Federal Court only said the EC is the rightful body to decide whether there is a vacancy. Not that it had made the correct decision or otherwise,” he added, referring to the apex court's judgment on April 9.
Razlan also stressed that the five-men panel of Federal Court judges said their decision was not binding on future cases related to the Perak saga.
The Attorney-General's Chambers had attempted to strike out the suit.
Senior federal counsel Datuk Kamaluddin Md Said told reporters he objected because the Federal Court decision made today's two lawsuits “academic.”
Toppled Perak Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar is suing the election body for not holding by-elections in Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang after he had declared the seats vacant following his decision to accept the undated resignation letters of its three elected representatives.
Sivakumar also named the three state assemblymen, Jamaluddin Md Radzi, Osman Jailu and Hee Yit Foong, in his suit.
He had declared their seats vacant after they publicly broke their ties with PR to become independent state lawmakers loyal to the Barisan Nasional (BN).
A second lawsuit against the EC and the same three assemblymen were filed in early March by another group made up of three former Perak executive councillors (exco) and three Perak citizens.
Chen Fook Chye, S. Sivanesan, Tai Sing Ng were part of the state executive council during PR's 10-month rule which ended in February while Ahmad Sabry, Abdul Latif and Foo Hon Wai are ordinary citizens who are registered voters in the three state seats.
All six claim they have been denied being able to vote in an elected representative of their choice because the EC refused to conform to the assembly speaker's decision and hold by-elections.
MI
28/05/09
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