Sanglang by-election
PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission (EC) is waiting for Perlis Pas commissioner Hashim Jasin to decide if he wants to appeal against Wednesday’s Election Court judgment before it can set the date for the Sanglang by-election.
Election Court judge Datuk Zainal Adzam Abd Ghani had declared Barisan Nasional assemblyman Abdullah Hassan’s election victory for the state seat null and void.
The court made the declaration with costs.
It had accepted a petition which claimed that Abdullah was not duly elected or ought not to have been elected.
However, Zainal Adzam said the court had no power to declare the losing candidate - Hashim - as the rightful winner. Hence, the necessity for a by-election.
Hashim, who secured 3,235 votes but lost by 149 votes, has 14 days to appeal this decision. If he does not file an appeal by the deadline, then the EC can go ahead and set a date for the by-election.
However, should Hashim appeal, then the EC could only convene a meeting after the Federal Court had ruled, an EC spokesman said.
“Under the election law, the Federal Court must decide on any election appeal within six months. Until then, we have to wait.”
The spokesman said the commission had no problem in holding its meeting on this matter. “It is just that we have to wait until the (deadline for the) appeal.
“If the appeal is made, then we will have to wait for the Federal Court’s decision.”
Hashim filed the petition on April 23, claiming there was a discrepancy in the vote-counting process.
He also wanted the court to declare him as the winner.
The petition named the returning officer, Mohd Daud Abdul Hamid, as first respondent, the EC as second respondent and Abdullah as third respondent.
Zainal Adzam, in his seven-page judgment, said the court had heard there was a discrepancy in the totalling of the votes.
The judge had also said the provision for the court to declare a candidate as a rightful winner had been abolished.
The provision under the Election Offences Act which stated that any petitioner may seek “a declaration that any candidate was duly elected and ought to have been returned” had been abolished on Jan 16, 2003.
