UPDATE1 Election Commission shows true colours, refuses to set by-election dates for Perak seats

In a decision described as disgraceful by civil groups, Malaysia’s Election Commission has shown its true colours.

Its disrespect of the federal constitution and blatant partisanship is expected to spark a public uproar over incoming Umno president Najib Abdul Razak’s murky and manipulative methods.

Adds comments and quotes

By Wong Choon Mei

In a decision that shocked the nation, Malaysia’s Election Commission today announced that by-elections would not be held for the Behrang and Changkat Jering state seats in Perak.

Worse still, it tried to overturn the decision of the Speaker of the Perak state assembly by declaring the seats would still be held by Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi in Behrang and Mohd Osman Jailu in Changkat Jering.

“EC decided that it cannot establish that vacancies have occurred. Thus it will not be able to call by-elections. The two seats are still held by the two state representatives,” EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusuf told a press conference today.

“We also will not call them in to explain the denial,” he added.

His announcement sparked widespread condemnation.

“This is simply unprofessiponal,” said KeADILan nformation chief Tian Chua. “It is exactly what we feared and what we have been urging Malaysians to fight against.

“It is not in the power of the EC to doubt or investigate the validity of the resignation letters of Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman. This is clearly stated in the federal constitution. That they dare to disrespect it so blatantly is telling of how desperate the Barisan Nasional government, in particular Najib Abdul Razak, is.

“We reiterate, the decision does not come from the EC - its function is only to conduct and fix the date of election. Only the two state assemblymen can challenge the decision, and it must be through legal channels.”

Pakatan still has majority

The two state seats fell into dispute after Deputy Premier and incoming Umno president Najib Abdul Razak tried to entice both men to cross over to his party.

The Pakatan Rakyat state government upped the ante by putting through pre-signed resignation letters of both assemblymen, who went ‘missing’ for days.

They later resurfaced and claimed that the letters were signed under duress.

In the meantime, pending a decision by the Perak state government, the Speaker V Sivakumar has the right to deny the duo entry into the legislative assembly.

Both Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman had yesterday claimed they were still KeADILan members, even though their positions as state assemblymen might be in doubt.

The majority in the state assembly stood at 32 for Pakatan and 27 for Barisan before the resignations. After the resignations, the position would be 30 to 27, and this should be the conservative number to take despite the EC’s disgraceful decision today.

Even if Najib succeeds in taking the two men over to Umno, the Pakatan would still control the state with a one-seat majority.

A national shame

Meanwhile, brickbats continued to pour in for the 58-year old Abdul Aziz, who took over the chair of the Election Commission at the end of December.

Said Lim Kit Siang, MP for Ipoh Timur: “The EC has exceeded its jurisdiction and has no business to disregard the Perak constitution. It is not for the EC to usurp the power of the courts.”

“Any such legal challenge should come from Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman if they want to challenge the legality of their resignations from their respective state assembly seats.”

The veteran lawmaker also slammed the EC for showing bias, given that it is well-known and widely reported in the press that the pair may leave KeADILan and defect to Umno.

Kit Siang said the Pakatan would now consider a “wide spectrum of options”, including taking the matter to court, although that may not be necessary.

Even Abdul Aziz’s predecessor, Rashid Rahman, who helmed the EC for eight years had said that the commission was duty-bound to call for by-elections.

“That is the requirement under the federal constitution. The Election Commission is in no position to question why,” the former EC chairman told the Malaysian Insider.

Another expert, Abdul Aziz Bari, agreed with Rashid.

“As such, matters pertaining to suspension of a member and the like, the final say rests with the Speaker. He is the one who runs the House and his ruling is final,” said Abdul Aziz, professor of law at the International Islamic University.

“The EC has got to take the Speaker’s notification as a matter of the law. They have no choice. That is what the law is all about,” he added.

Sumber : Suara Keadilan