Dewan Rakyat Speaker rejects opposition MPs' claim that with cases pending it would be wrong for governemnt to table redelineation report, saying it was just their opinion.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin says he will allow the government to table the EC’s redelineation proposal.
KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia today denied that the tabling of the Election Commission’s (EC) report on the redelineation of electoral boundaries would be subjudice.
In rejecting the argument by some opposition MPs that it would be subjudice as some cases on the matter are still pending in court, Pandikar said it was simply a matter of opinion.
“This is a democracy. You agree to disagree. That is their opinion and my opinion is different.
“Subjudice is applicable to some cases. If subjudice is applicable to cases like this, then the Dewan Rakyat cannot do anything.
“For the separation of powers to work, let Parliament, the courts and the executive do their own work,” Pandikar said when met by reporters at the Parliament building here today.
He added that he will allow the government to table the report.
Yesterday, Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham, Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming and Klang MP Charles Santiago had argued that there were ongoing court cases in Penang and Selangor regarding the redelineation exercise.
“According to Pandikar’s logic, based on his earlier refusal to take questions on 1MDB, the pending cases would make it subjudice for the EC’s redelineation exercise to be debated in the Dewan Rakyat,” they said.
Ong said it would be a clear case of subjudice if the report was debated in the Dewan Rakyat.
“For instance, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng would not be able to debate the report in the Dewan Rakyat as it would be part of his court case against the EC as well. It makes the whole debate a mockery.”
Today, Santiago said he was seeking an urgent court injunction to stop the tabling of the EC report in Parliament.
He hoped to meet a judge tomorrow to expedite the injunction.
“I have no choice but to initiate court action requesting an injunction to stop Pandikar from allowing the report to be tabled for debate tomorrow.
“The report is incomplete as the EC has not completed the inquiry involving 107 groups, comprising some 10,000 voters.
“These voters in the state of Selangor have been left hanging, which is a violation of the Federal Constitution, which requires all objections to be heard.
“Furthermore, the courts have not disposed of the cases brought by the state governments of Penang and Selangor, which would make it subjudice for the speaker to allow a debate.
“It will be a travesty of justice if the courts rule that the EC is wrong in not holding an inquiry before submitting the report to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
“Such a decision will make the report invalid and we will be debating an invalid report,” Santiago said.
He said the courts must be allowed to make a decision before the report can become a valid document. -FMT
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