Court denies injunction, EC to announce Nenggiri polls date

 

The Election Commission (EC) will proceed with its expected announcement of the date for the Nenggiri state by-election tomorrow.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon denied an ad-interim injunction application by former Nenggiri assemblyperson Mohd Azizi Abu Naim to prevent the upcoming by-election.

The applicant was seeking a temporary restraining order to maintain the status quo between parties, pending the disposal of his lawsuit challenging the validity of his party membership termination, which led to the Nenggiri state seat in Kelantan falling vacant.

Judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain today denied Azizi’s injunction application after more than two and a half hours of hearing of submissions that began at 4.30pm.

She said the EC cannot be denied from carrying out its constitutional duty, which included holding a meeting and announcing a by-election date.

She ruled that Azizi could still take part in the by-election, and set Aug 28 to hear the actual injunction application.

Under the law, an ad-interim injunction is meant to maintain the status quo, pending the hearing of the actual injunction application.

On Monday this week, Azizi filed his originating summons, which targeted not only the EC and Kelantan legislative assembly speaker Mohd Amar Abdullah, but also Bersatu’s two top leaders - president Muhyiddin Yassin and secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin.

Mohd Azizi Abu Naim

He sought a court declaration that articles 10.5 read with 10.4 and 10.6 of the party’s constitution violated his constitutional right to equality before the law and freedom of association.

He contended that his expulsion from Bersatu was invalid and that the Kelantan speaker’s declaration that Nenggiri fell vacant was null and void.

Bersatu informed the state speaker on June 12 that Azizi’s membership was revoked and subsequently, the Nenggiri seat fell vacant.

Reps given the boot

Azizi, who is also the Gua Musang MP, was among the seven Bersatu lawmakers whose party memberships were terminated for voicing support for the Madani government.

Aside from Azizi, the other representatives given the boot were Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, Tanjong Karang MP Zulkafperi Hanapi, Jeli MP Zahari Kechik, Kuala Kangsar MP Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid, and Selat Klang assemblyperson Abdul Rashid Asari.

Azizi contested under the PAS banner for the Perikatan Nasional coalition in the last general election.

Harian Metro previously quoted him saying he was “not surprised” by the party’s announcement, and that he would challenge it in court.

Party constitution amendment

Bersatu earlier amended its party constitution to stipulate that any elected representative who defected would automatically cease to be a party member.

In doing so, the defectors would also trigger the anti-hopping law per Article 49A of the Federal Constitution and their seats would be vacated.

The Registrar of Societies approved the amendment to Bersatu’s constitution in April.

On May 17, Bersatu instructed all its elected representatives to reaffirm their loyalty to the party, with a special committee reviewing their loyalty pledges.

Former premier Muhyiddin had warned that disobedience would result in the automatic termination of their membership.

Counsel Rajan Navaratnam appeared for Azizi, while senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi appeared for EC.

Lawyer Chetan Jethwani acted for Muhyiddin and Hamzah. - Mkini