Election Commission (EC) chairperson Azhar Azizan Harun said the recently gazetted amendments to the Federal Constitution have yet to be enforced and therefore the issue of a legal challenge against the upcoming Tanjung Piai by-election in Johor does not arise.
He explained that the Sept 10 gazette was only issued to state that amendments were made to the Federal Constitution to allow for automatic voter registration (AVR).
This is also to lower the minimum voting age and the age to contest in elections from 21 to 18.
"There are several types of gazette. This one (on Sept 10) is to state that amendments have been made to the Federal Constitution.
"All three amendments have yet to be enforced," he told Malaysiakini today.
The Tanjung Piai parliamentary seat in Johor fell vacant following the death of its incumbent, former deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Mohamed Farid Md Rafik, on Saturday.
Azhar said the EC has received a formal notice on the vacancy and a special meeting will be held in Putrajaya next Tuesday to decide the dates for the nomination, campaigning period and voting day.
"Normally when we have a by-election, the EC must decide on the electoral roll to be used and this is typically the last gazetted electoral roll.
"The electoral roll is gazetted every three months," he added.
The Tanjung Piai by-election will be the first election to be held after the amendments were passed and gazetted, raising questions on EC's readiness to implement the changes.
Last week, electoral watchdog Bersih proposed that youths aged 18 to 21 be allowed to register by filling up forms through the EC's website or its offices, post offices, or with assistant registration officers.
This is until the AVR system is set up, a process which the EC previously said could take up to two-years.
Lawyers disagree with EC
Contrary to Azhar's statement that all three amendments have yet to come into force, lawyer Nizam Bashir said the EC is now bound to allow candidates as young as 18 to contest in an election, including in the Tanjung Piai by-election.
"It is important to note that amendments to Article 119(1)(a) and 119(4)(b) will only come into force at a date to be announced after receiving assent from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
"In short, the lowering of the voting age has yet to come into force. However, the lowering of candidate's age is now enforced under the constitution," said Nizam (below).
He noted that the EC's refusal to allow a candidate who is at least 18 to contest could be used as a ground to challenge the constitutionality of the by-election.
Lawyer Lim Wei Jiet concurred with Nizam's views.
"The amendment to lower the age of candidacy for elections to 18 would come into operation on the date the amendment bill itself is gazetted.
"The amendment bill was gazetted on Sept 10, 2019. Hence, the EC has to give effect to the third amendment for the Tanjung Piai by-election," he explained.
"In other words, if an 18-year-old wants to contest in the Tanjung Piai by-election, he/she must be allowed to do so," he added.
In GE14, Farid, from Bersatu, defeated MCA two-term incumbent Wee Jeck Seng with a slim majority of 524 votes.
Farid bagged 21,255 votes against Wee's 20,731. The other candidate was PAS' Nordin Othman with 2,962 votes.
Tanjung Piai, which is in southwest Johor, is considered a marginal seat. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.