EC’s plan back on track
Redelineation exercise to proceed after reversal order given by Court of Appeal.
PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission can now proceed with its redelineation exercise, thanks to a reversal order given by the Court of Appeal.
With fire drills and sirens blaring away, three judges at the Court of Appeal sat through the hearing until they reached a 2-1 majority judgment to reverse the Dec 7 High Court ruling which halted the exercise for one year.
The panel led by Justice Idrus Harun in its majority judgment agreed with the senior federal counsel’s submission that the court should not be allowed to stay the redelineation process as it is tantamount to interfering with the principle of separation of powers.
Justice Yaacob Md Sam was in support, while Justice Rhodzariah Bujang dissented. They made no order as to cost.
“We find merits in this application... the fact is the stay order is to restrain the EC from conducting its constitutional duty,” ruled Justice Idrus, agreeing with the EC’s lawyer senior federal counsel Datuk Amarjeet Singh.
On Dec 7, the High Court threw out the judicial review application filed by the Selangor Government to challenge the EC’s proposed redelineation exercise in the state. Selangor is appealing against this decision and the hearing is pending in the Court of Appeal.
However, the court allowed Selangor’s application to suspend the local inquiry process for parlia-
mentary and state constituencies in the state, pending a decision on the appeal by the Court of Appeal.
Local enquiries – which are where the EC hears objections from the public, local authorities and state government – must be held before the EC can conclude its redelineation process.
The stay effectively paused the EC’s redelineation exercise in Peninsular Malaysia, as it was expected to produce a single complete redelineation report representing all states.
Earlier yesterday, Amarjeet Singh argued that staying the local enquiry interfered with the separation of powers by having the court
hinder the EC from carrying out its function for Dewan Rakyat.
The state government’s lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan replied that it was too early for the court to decide on the issue, as that was a matter for a full hearing, not for a side application over whether a stay should be given.
“The status quo needs to be preserved, so either party’s rights can be protected... if the stay is set aside, our appeal would be dead in the water,” she said.
Speaking to reporters after the decision, Selangor state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong said it was unfortunate that the stay was
lifted, as it meant the state government’s bid to declare the EC’s redelineation exercise unconstitutional could be rendered moot.
She said the fact that the decision was not unanimous suggested there could be some merit to their appeal.
Last week, the state government failed in its attempt to recuse Justice Idrus, on the grounds of danger of bias, as he had heard similar legal challenges against redelineation exercise in other states.