PKR files judicial review against rejection of Segamat local inquiry.

Six Segamat voters have filed a judicial review application against the Election Commission (EC) and its Johor registrar Shafie Taib over the presence of army voters and their spouses at the contentious Segamat camp, which is yet to be completed.

In a statement, Segamat PKR coordinator Edmund Santhara said the filing was done at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday, by lawyer R Sivarasa, who represented the six. 

The six voters, who are also PKR members, had filed an objection against 102 army voters at the camp, out of 1,051 voters registered there, but this was rejected by the EC in a local inquiry held on Dec 6. 

The judicial review was filed as a result of the rejection. 

It was reported on Wednesday that 48 voters, comprising mainly of DAP and Amanah supporters, had obtained a stay from the Kuala Lumpur High Court, to stop the EC from certifying and gazetting the electoral rolls that contained the 949 army personnel and their spouses as voters, until the disposal of leave for judicial review. 

During the hearing by EC on Dec 6, Santhara alleged there were clear "abuses", as the camp is not complete when the voters were registered, and Shafie should have acted fairly during the hearing, but he was seen as protecting the army when they did not make any statement.

Shafie, he said, also prevented the applicants from checking on the documents used to protect the army petition, and some of the army personnel were not present.

“Despite this, Shafie decided to maintain their names as additional voters in the electoral roll. The applicants could not bring their witnesses to support their case against the EC and the hearing of the local inquiry is done under the closed door but the law states it should be open to the public,” added Santhara.

Santhara said the purpose the judicial review was filed is because the names should not have been added and it is unconstitutional, as it violates Article 119 of the Federal Constitution regarding the qualification of electors, and this also goes against the principles of natural justice.- Mkini