Harapan vs BN battle for Segamat seat goes to apex court

 

M Ramasamy, who was the BN candidate for the Segamat parliamentary seat, has appealed to the Federal Court over the Muar High Court’s decision to reject his election petition.

In last November’s national polls, Pakatan Harapan’s R Yuneswaran emerged victorious by 5,669 votes ahead of the MIC man and two others.

According to Bernama, Ramasamy (above) filed a notice for appeal on April 14. Case management has been set for May 9 before the Federal Court’s deputy registrar.

In his petition, the BN candidate sought the nullification of the contest for the Segamat seat and that Yuneswaran should not be a member of Parliament.

However, High Court judge Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid, in his written judgement, said the petition should not be based on inferences or assumptions but facts.

The judge said he agreed with Yuneswaran’s lawyer that Ramasamy’s petition did not contain accurate and clear material facts.

Segamat MP R Yuneswaran

Radzi also accepted the preliminary objection by Yuneswaran, the returning officer for the Segamat parliamentary seat, and the Election Commission that the petition be rejected.

The preliminary objection included Ramasamy’s failure to adhere to the requirements of the Election Offences Act 1954 (EOA) in relation to his affidavit.

Meanwhile, Free Malaysia Today reported that the judge commented on Ramasamy’s allegation that the Harapan candidate had “corruptly” given food to voters during an event at a Chinese temple to influence them.

“The single act of treating at the temple cannot be presupposed to have affected the result of the election under Section 32(a) of EOA,” the judge said, adding that the MIC man also failed to establish the identities of those who attended the event to prove they were indeed voters in the constituency.

Ramasamy, who had lodged a police report on the matter, also accused Yuneswaran and his agents of violating election rules on campaign material.

Apart from this, he also claimed the Harapan candidate distributed food parcels to voters when campaigning. - Mkini