Apex court affirms Mas Ermieyati as Masjid Tanah MP

 

On Oct 27 last year, the Melaka election court affirmed Mas Ermieyati’s victory as Masjid Tanah MP after concluding that Abdul Hakim failed to prove the element of bribery in the GE15 campaign.

PETALING JAYA: Mas Ermieyati Samsudin remains Masjid Tanah MP after the Federal Court dismissed Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Abdul Hakim Abdul Wahid’s appeal to nullify her victory in the 15th general election.

A three-member bench, comprising Justices Nallini Pathmanathan, Mary Lim and Abu Bakar Jais, held that the election court judge was not wrong in his findings when dismissing Hakim’s election petition.

Nallini said the appellant’s counsel submitted that the election court judge had erred in failing to infer from the available evidence an offence of bribery under Section 10(a) of the Election Offences Act 1954.

“However, the counsel for the respondent (Mas Ermieyati) contended otherwise. The pivotal point turned on the term ‘induce any elector or voter to vote or refrain from voting’.

“We were urged to infer that inducement, within the meaning of Section 10(a), can be deduced from the mere act of money being given to a voter post-voting,” Bernama reported her as saying.

However, Nallini said Section 10(a) expressly requires evidence of inducement, meaning that the voter has to be persuaded or led to vote or not by some act, promise of money, or another consideration.

“In this appeal, there is no evidence of the voters being persuaded, influenced or induced to vote or not, or to vote in any particular manner. There is no extrinsic evidence from which such inducement can be inferred,” she said.

Nallini also questioned whether the act of paying voters money had any influence on their decisions to vote, given that the voters had already voted and were not promised payment or aware of any money being distributed behind the restaurant.

“Put another way, in the absence of any evidence of a promise of money or other consideration made preceding the act of voting at any time, can it be said that the voter was induced to vote by the respondent or its agent?

“We do not think so. This is because the act itself requires the element of inducement to be made out. There can be no bribery under Section 10(a) without the element of inducement being established,” she added.

On Oct 27 last year, the Melaka election court affirmed Mas Ermieyati’s victory as Masjid Tanah MP after concluding that Hakim failed to prove the element of bribery in the GE15 campaign.

On Nov 10, Hakim filed a notice of appeal with the Federal Court as he was dissatisfied with election court judge Abu Bakar Katar’s dismissal of his election petition.

Mas Ermieyati had won in GE15 by a majority of 4,411 votes in a four-cornered fight after obtaining 25,604 votes.

She defeated Hakim, who obtained 21,193 votes, Muda candidate Mutalib Uthman (7,445 votes) and Pejuang candidate Handrawirawan Abu Bakar (507 votes). - FMT