The Election Court in Penang today struck out a petition by Deputy Foreign Minister Marzuki Yahya to challenge the Tasek Gelugor polls results in GE14.
The court, presided by judge Hashim Hamzah, also ordered Marzuki, a senator appointed by his party Bersatu after the May 9 polls, to pay RM5,000 in cost to the Election Commission.
Marzuki lost by 81 votes to Umno MP Shabudin Yahya, who, on Feb 12, defected to Bersatu, together with six others.
Hashim made the decision after meeting the lawyers of the two parties in chambers today.
According to a joint statement by the lawyers, Hashim had considered the representations from both Marzuki and Shabudin.
When contacted, Marzuki's lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali said the legal counsel from both parties have met to share their version of Form 14s.
"The judge agreed to strike out the petition after listening to both sides. It was best for the petition to be cancelled anyway, taking into account recent events and the deliberation of all on the Form 14s," Rafique told Malaysiakini.
"It is best that the petition be cancelled, so as to not burden the court or waste the time and costs borne by the judiciary," he added.
"We also took into account the fact that when parliament convenes in March, Shabudin will be sitting on the government side, and it would not be nice to continue with the case," Rafique said.
As to costs, he said both parties have agreed not to demand money but allowed Marzuki to compensate to the Election Commission staff as they were present in court.
Final poll results from each polling district are tallied in Form 14s. A grand total of the results are then used to announce who is the winner of the constituency.
According to Shabudin's lawyer, Simon Tan, the judge also took into account Shabudin’s entry into Bersatu when deciding to dismiss the case.
In his petition, Marzuki challenged the Election Commission to recount 689 spoilt votes and 297 unreturned postal votes.
On Jan 14, the court had set aside nine days for the trial, from Feb 25 to March 1, and from March 12 to 15. - Mkini
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