PAS plans civil suit in bid for fresh polls
Vice-president Mustafa Ali said the civil summons will be a separate action from election petitions that the party will file to challenge the polls results in several constituencies.
"We will take the government and the EC to court and demand a re-election following various election irregularities and fraud that took place on election day," he said in a press statement today.
PAS secretary general Nasharuddin Mat Isa (
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) said that the decision was made because it believes that it has enough evidence to establish a case against the government and the EC.
"We have been collecting evidence over the past few weeks. The proof of election fraud and irregularities is overwhelming based on the evidence in our hand," he said when contacted.
"The Election Commission's decision to extend polling time by two hours in Selangor is only one such example."
However, Nasharuddin said the party has no intention to rush the matter and that the suit would be filed only after it has settled the filing of its election petitions.
'No contradiction'
A few days after the general election on March 21, PAS and its ally Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) rejected the outcome, claiming that this had been tainted by irregularities and fraud including the use of three different electoral rolls.
PAS was routed by the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in its previous strongholds, losing Terengganu and coming close to being defeated in neighbouring Kelantan as well. It then formed an action committee to collect evidence of election irregularities.
Mustafa (
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) said that in the event that the court agrees to order a re-election, all PAS candidates would relinquish their seats and re-contest.
"PAS' decision to form a government in Kelantan and to allow its elected representatives to be sworn into office does not contradict the party's stand to reject the election results," he said.
He added that the swearing-in ceremony was necessary to adhere to the democratic process.
"At the same time, we continue to stress that the results of the 11 th general election must be rejected in toto ," he added.
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