EC confirms fresh election for Cameron Highlands

The Election Commission (EC) today confirmed that a fresh election will be held for the parliamentary constituency of Cameron Highlands.

EC chief Azhar Azizan Harun said this came after no appeal was filed against the Election Court's decision to nullify BN's win in the parliamentary seat in the 14th general election.

"Until the expiry of the appeal date on Dec 14 (yesterday) as set out under Section 36A of the Election Offences Act 1954, no appeal was filed at the Federal Court nor was the EC informed of one.

"As such, in accordance with Article 54(1) of the Federal Constitution, the EC will fill the seat vacancy within 60 days from the vacancy date which the EC has determined on Dec 15 (today)," he said in a statement today.

Azhar said the Dewan Rakyat speaker will be formally informed on Monday.

"The EC will hold a special meeting to discuss the implementation of the election," he said.

He added that the commission will announce the date of the meeting.

Section 36 of the Election Offences Act 1954 allows an Election Court judge to confirm or void an election, while section 36A allows for an appeal against the decision within 14 days.

Article 54(1) of the Federal Constitution requires a vacant Dewan Rakyat seat to be filled within 60 days.

The Election Court had on Nov 30 declared the Cameron Highlands seat vacant after determining that its incumbent or his agents had engaged in vote-buying.

MIC's C Sivarraajh won the seat with 10,307 votes to DAP's 9,710 votes. PAS garnered 3,587 votes, PSM got 680 votes while Berjasa received 81 votes.

MIC president S Vigneswaran had said that his party would not appeal the decision and would let the people decide in a by-election.

 -Mkini