Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) today urged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to go on leave until the court rules on the election petition filed against him.

In a press statement, party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said it was not appropriate for the premier to continue discharging his duties when his position as a member of Parliament was in doubt.

Yesterday, Abdullah's contender for the Kepala Batas seat in the recent polls, Abdul Kadir Rashid of PAS, filed the petition alleging the former of not declaring his election expenses for the 1999 polls.

A similar petion was also filed against Penaga state assemblyperson Azhar Hamzah by his PAS opponent Subri Mohd Arshad. Penaga falls under the Kepala Batas parliamentary constituency.

Both petitions were filed with the Penang High Court yesterday.

"According to Section 32(b) of the Election Offences Act 1954, the failure to disclose election expenses should have led to their disqualifications and the PAS candidates being declared as winners," said the Keadilan president.

Wan Azizah also urged the Penang High Court to fix a early hearing date and deliver an impartial judgment.

Investigation needed

On the same note, she called on the Election Commission (EC) to investigate why the returning officers did not turn down the applications of the Barisan Nasional politicians on nomination day March 13.

"Was it an honest mistake, oversight or was there an ignominious pact to ensure that the duo could contest although it was clearly against the election law?" she asked.

She added that such weaknesses further tainted the EC's credibility and heightened the suspicion of the people regarding election improprieties in the March 21 polls.

"Keadilan wants EC to act immediately to restore (the public's) confidence and to act in a fair and transparent manner," she said.

Abdullah had retained the Kepala Batas seat with a 18,122 majority. In the previous polls, he defeated Abdul Khalid ( photo, right ) by 11,175 votes.

The election results were gazetted on April 12. Candidates have 21 days to challenge the results through election petitions.