PAS today filed eight election petitions seeking to nullify the results for four parliamentary and four state seats in Terengganu..

On the other hand, Barisan Nasional (BN) also filed a petition to challenge the results of PAS president and former Terengganu menteri besar Abdul Hadi Awang's state seat Rhu Rendang, which he retained by a 1,435 majority.

The ruling front named the PAS leader, the returning officer there and the Election Commission (EC) as respondents.

The state seats being disputed by PAS are Jertih, Ladang, Sura and Sukai while the parliamentary constituencies are Besut, Kuala Terengganu, Marang and Dunggun.

According to a Bernama report, the opposition party named the respective returning officers, BN candidates and the EC as respondents.

PAS' petitions were filed by counsel Faris Irwan Mustafa while the BN petition was filed by lawyer Victor Isaacs. All nine were filed at the Kuala Terengganu High Court.

In the March 21 polls, BN recaptured the state after sweeping 28 of the 32 state seats. The ruling front also won all eight parliamentary seats.

In the 1999 election, PAS won 28 state seats to form the government and of the eight parliamentary seats, it won seven while the other was taken by its ally Keadilan.

Voters file petition

In a related development, two voters today filed an election petition over the Senggarang state constituency in Johor, which PAS won uncontested after Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Shamsiah Rashidah Ibrahim was disqualified.

Sarif Murti, 61, and Lau Wee Ying, 31 named the victorious PAS candidate Dr Ramli Mohamed Kari as the first respondent, the returning officer as the second respondent and the Election Commission as the third respondent.

The petition was filed by counsel Syed Faisal Syed Abdullah and Mesnor Bujang at the Johor Baru High Court.

According to Bernama , the voters cited the failure of the returning officer to check the mistake in Shamsiah's nomination papers, resulting in her failure to abide by the provisions of Rule 4 (6A) of the Election Regulations (Conduct of Elections) 1981 as grounds of their petition.

RO not fair

The duo also contended that the PAS candidate or his agent had raised objections not in accordance with the election laws and the returning officer had erred in allowing his objection.

Sarif and Lau also claimed that Ramli ( photo, centre ) had failed to fill his nomination papers in accordance with the law and the returning officer had failed to exercise fairness to those filing their nomination papers and the voters in the Senggarang constituency.

The grounds they cited tantamount to offences under Section 15 of the Election Act 1958.

The duo are seeking to nullify Ramli's victory on nomination day (March 13) and a declaration that the decision of the returning officer in allowing Ramli's objection was null and void.

They also want a fresh election to be conducted between Ramli and Shamsiah Rashidah.

Senggarang was the only seat that fell into the hands of the opposition in Johor, which is a traditional BN stronghold.

To date, PAS has filed 15 election petitions, including in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's constituency Kepala Batas, while BN has filed six.

The other parties have until tomorrow to decide if they want to resort to legal redress.