The Kuala Lumpur High Court today rejected an application by three Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) leaders to quash an Election Commission decision to disqualify them from contesting in the general election on the grounds that it was premature

Justice Md Raus Sharif said the petition filed by vice-president Mohd Azmin Ali, Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor and Wanita deputy chief Irene Fernandez was "premature" as the EC's letter informing them of the disqualification does not amount to a decision.

"It is my considered view that the contents of the commission's letter dated March 3, 2004 is not a decision for the purpose of a judicial review. To me, it is nothing more than an opinion of the commission in reply to a query by the party," he said.

He added that the petitioners were free to submit their nomination papers in the respective constituencies they intend to stand.

"The decision whether their nominations papers would be accepted or rejected rests with the respective returning officers (RO)," he said.

Election petition

Md Raus added that the court cannot speculate on what the RO's decision would be but in the event that their nominations are rejected, they can challenge the decision through an election petition.

The judge, who also awarded costs to the public prosecutor, represented by Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, rejected the trio's request for stay of the EC decision pending appeal to the Court of Appeal.

On Monday, the three filed an application seeking leave to challenge the EC's letter informing the party that a convicted person sentenced to more than a year's imprisonment and a RM2,000 fine could not contest despite obtaining stay of execution.

The trio argued that the letter amounted to a decision which can influence any RO to reject their nomination papers .

They alleged that the EC had erred in law when holding that once convicted, they automatically lost their eligibility as election candidates.

Azmin is currently appealing against a perjury conviction, while Ezam and Fernandez are battling their convictions under the Official Secrets Act and the Printing, Presses and Publication Act respectively.

Commenting on the court decision, Ezam said the issue is not as simple as the court made it out to be.

"The letter clearly states the commission's view that we do not qualify as candidates. As long as it remained unchallenged, our nominations are as good as rejected. So we don't know whether it would be wise for us to submit our papers on Saturday," he said.

He said a final decision can only be made after a discussion with party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail this afternoon.

"Of course I had expected being rejected... however my determination to fight for justice will not be deterred by the decision. I will bring the fight in Pekan (the parliamentary seat he planned to contest against Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak) to the whole country," he stressed.

High risk

In an official statement, Wan Azizah said the party had been forced not to nominate the trio as election candidates because "the risk of being rejected by the RO is very high".

"Keadilan will not allow Barisan Nasional candidates to get away with an easy win. We have an obligation to the voters to nominate high calibre candidates to run at the respective constituencies," she added.

As at press time, the party had yet to announce the replacements for the three leaders. It is learnt that party leaders are currently huddled at Wan Azizah's house in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, deciding the matter.

In the statement, the Keadilan president also expressed the party's disappointment with the ruling which had among others advised them to only seek the court's remedy if the trio's nominations are rejected by the RO on Saturday.

"The EC secretary had made the commission's stand clear, that the three are ineligible to contest. Surely it is appropriate for us to assume that the respective RO s would conform to the commission secretary's stand," she said.

She stressed that although the three leaders are not contesting in the election, they continue to play a big role in ensuring the party's success by helping other candidates in their campaign.

Last year, party leaders had raised their concern over the trio's eligibility and, when malaysiakini referred the matter to EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, he held that a convicted person can still run for election if he is allowed stay of execution.

However recently, Abdul Rashid did an about turn stating that his earlier statement was made without consulting the commission's legal department.

"After discussing with my legal officers, I found out that such interpretations cannot be applied to the election law. The law states that once the conviction is delivered the disqualification applies automatically after," he said.