Election petitions are set to extend the political 'war' between Barisan Nasional and opposition parties, following the move to gazette the 2004 general election results today.

All candidates have 21 days in which to file their petitions to challenge the polls results. The highest number of suits are expected in the states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Selangor.

PAS defended Kelantan against the Barisan Nasional (BN) onslaught, hanging on to the state with a simple majority of 24 of the 45 seats available, after recounts in nine seats.

The state's deputy commissioner III Husam Musa said PAS will file election petitions for two parliamentary (Jeli and Bachok) and the nine state seats of Bukit Tuku, Mengkebang, Manek Urai, Selising, Pengkalan Kubor, Tendong, Melor, Gual Periok and Air Lanas.

Attempts to contact Kelantan Umno deputy chief Zaid Ibrahim this afternoon were unsuccessful but its chief Mustapa Mohamed was previously quoted in the press as saying that BN has also designated a team of lawyers to file its petitions.

PAS secretary-general Nasharuddin Mat Isa, when contacted, said the party would decide later this week on whether or not to file election petitions for seats in Terengganu and Selangor .

"The party has instructed our state leaders to submit their respective reports to us within this two or three days so that we can make a decision on the petitions," he said, adding that PAS Terengganu has not finalised the number of petitions it could be filing.

PAS was routed in Terengganu, where it won only four of the 32 seats contested. In the 1999 polls, PAS won 28 seats to BN's four.

Discussion scheduled

Meanwhile, MCA deputy president Chan Kong Choy said election petitions will be on the agenda at the party's central committee meeting tomorrow, the first to be held since the general election on March 21.

"The matter will be raised and discussed tomorrow. Only after that will we have an idea as to how many petitions will be filed by the MCA," said Chan, who heads the party's election steering committee.

He refused to be drawn into speculation that MCA would challenge the result for the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat, which BN's Tan Chew Moi lost by 304 votes to incumbent Fong Kui Lun of the DAP.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) vice-president and election campaign director Mohd Azmin Ali said the party has not discussed whether to file election petitions, but said this would be deliberated at its supreme council meeting on Thursday.

DAP has also designated a team of lawyers, headed by its Perak chief Ngeh Koo Ham, to deal with election petitions.

He told malaysiakini that the party's central leadership would have to approve all petitions though legal costs are to be borne by the candidates themselves.

"We must consider the strength of each case, including evidence in our possession of irregularities, as well as the legal costs and deposits," the politician-cum-lawyer said, adding that a final decision would likely be made within 10 days.

DAP's former Batu Lanchang state assemblyperson Law Heng Kiang has expressed his intention to challenge the result of the state seat in Penang, which he lost to BN's Ng Fook On by 75 votes.

Grounds for petition

In 2003, election laws were amended to increase the deposit amount to be paid as security for legal costs, from RM2,000 to RM10,000 per petition. No petition can be filed until this amount is first deposited with the court.

The election court, before a justice of the High Court, will have six months to hear and deliver a judgment on the petition.

The amendments also allow for an appeal to be made to the Federal Court within 14 days of a judgment being delivered by the election judge.

The Federal Court will then have six months to complete the hearing and decide on the appeal - it will be the final authority in interpreting the law.

Under the Election Offences Act, an election petition can only be filed on specific grounds such as involvement of bribery, threats and procedural irregularities.

Political pundits are expecting the highest ever number of election petitions this time around, given the number of allegations already made by various quarters about election irregularities.

In a statement today, DAP chairperson and Ipoh Timor MP Lim Kit Siang predicted that an "all-time record will be set by the number of election petitions" filed by both government and opposition candidates to challenge the polls results.

In the 1999 general election, 23 petitions - involving 14 parliamentary and nine state seats - were filed.