KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court will hear tomorrow a leave application for judicial review by a voter seeking to stop the Election Commission (EC) from holding the 15th general election.
The voter is alleging that the caretaker prime minister had acted unreasonably.
Lawyer R Kengadharan, appearing for Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar al-Mahdzar, said the ex parte hearing will be held in open court before justice Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid.
“As required under the law, all legal papers were served on the attorney-general (AG) earlier this week,” Kengadharan told FMT.
Lawyer A Srimurugan said although the proceeding is designated as an ex parte hearing, the AG or a senior federal counsel will be entitled to appear in court tomorrow.
“As guardian of public interest, the AG must be given the right to be heard on whether he supports or objects to the hearing of the case on its merits,” he said.
Syed Iskandar, 55, who is a lawyer by profession, filed the judicial review application last week, naming Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the EC chairman and the government as respondents.
He said Ismail had acted unreasonably when exercising his power to request the dissolution of Parliament.
The applicant, who is a voter in the Pandan parliamentary constituency, wants a declaration that the request by Ismail, which was made to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Oct 9, is null and void and of no effect.
Syed Iskandar said Ismail was wrong to rely on Articles 40(2)(b) and 55(2) of the Federal Constitution to end the term of the Dewan Rakyat.
He wants a writ of prohibition to stop the EC chairman, his servants or agents from taking steps to conduct GE15.
On Oct 10, Ismail announced that Parliament had been dissolved, paving the way for elections to be held within 60 days.
On the same day, Istana Negara issued a media statement that the King had no option but to dissolve Parliament following disappointing political developments.
Syed Iskandar, who filed an affidavit in support of the application, said Ismail acted in breach of his fiduciary duties as he had failed to consider the welfare and interests of the poorer segments of the voting public.
He said Ismail failed to consider the impact of potential floods. Instead, he said, the caretaker prime minister only considered the interests of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing criminal charges. - FMT
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