PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has warned that Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail risks disqualification as an assemblyman should C Sivarraajh fail in his appeal to the Federal Court to overturn the Election Court’s ruling to declare the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat as vacant.
Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali said Section 37 (3) of the Election Offences Act 1954 stated that any person who had been proven guilty of any corrupt practice would be reported to the Election Commission (EC).
“The provision states that that person shall be subject to the same incapacities as the candidate who committed the act of bribery,” he told FMT.
Rafique said both Sivarraajh and Wan Rosdy could also be barred from contesting in any election over the next five years if the apex court dismissed the former’s appeal.
Last week, the Election Court held that petitioner M Manogaran of DAP had proven bribery beyond reasonable doubt as money was given to voters either directly by Sivarraajh or indirectly through Wan Rosdy and Achom Lugi, a former civil servant and Orang Asli Barisan Nasional (BN) supporter.
Rafique said a by-election could be ordered to fill the vacancy for the Cameron Highlands seat if Sivarraajh decided against appealing or Manogaran did not cross-appeal.
“In that case, Wan Rosdy will be spared the risk of losing his Jelai state seat and the post of menteri besar,” he said.
Sivarraajh has until Dec 14 to make a decision.
On June 5, Manogaran, who named Sivarraajh as the only respondent, filed the petition to nullify the results on grounds of massive vote buying.
The parliamentary constituency comprises the state seats of Tanah Rata and Jelai which were won by DAP and BN candidates respectively.
Manogaran said Sivarraajh relied on Wan Rosdy to meet voters, especially the Orang Asli who made up about 20% of the voters in Jelai.
He claimed that at several settlements, which also doubled up as voting centres, the Orang Asli voters were bribed to cast their ballots in favour of Sivarraajh.
In the hotly contested election, Sivarraajh won by a 597-vote majority in a five-cornered battle.
Sivarraajh polled 10,307 votes, Manogaran 9,710 votes, Wan Mahadhir Wan Mahmud of PAS 3,587 votes, Mohd Tahir Kassim of Berjasa 81 votes and Suresh Kumar of Parti Sosialis Malalysia 680 votes.
Wan Rosdy, who is a four-term Jelai assemblyman, was appointed menteri besar of Pahang, replacing Adnan Yaakob.
Judge Azizah Nawawi said she also found that corrupt practices was committed in connection with the election with the knowledge of Sivarraajh.
“Consequently, I declare that the election for the parliamentary constituency of Cameron Highlands held on May 9 is void,” the judge said, adding that she would certify the decision with the EC and report the corruption practice.
However, she fell short of naming the culprits due to inconsistencies in the evidence by witnesses as to the identity of the persons who had actually given the money.
Wan Rosdy did not turn up to give evidence although the court postponed hearings three times to accommodate him.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission started its investigations following Azizah’s verdict on Friday. - FMT
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