The Federal Court today ordered the election petition brought by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to nullify the victory of the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Machang parliamentary constituency in the 13th general election to be remitted back to the Election Court for a full trial.

Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria held that the Election Judge who heard the petition should not have struck out the petition on the basis of locus standi of the advocate representing the petitioner under Rule 9 and Rule 34 of the Election Petition Rules 1954.

Justice Arifin said the court was of the view that the Election Judge should have allowed counsel Hisham Fauzi to represent the petitioner in the case and hear his submissions on the petition.

He said the Election Court should hear the merits of the case by way of a full trial and set Dec 17 for case management.

“The court allows the appeal, the case is remitted back to the Election Court for hearing on the merits,” said Justice Arifin in allowing PKR candidate Wan Zawawi Wan Ismail’s appeal over the Election Court’s decision.

The other judges on the panel were Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, Abdull Hamid Embong, Ahmad Maarop and Hasan Lah.

The court also set aside the Election Court’s decision to strike out Wan Zawawi’s election petition after allowing the respondents’ preliminary objection to the petition.

In the petition, Wan Zawawi had named Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub, returning officer and the Election Commission as respondents.  

In the general election, Ahmad Jazlan beat Wan Zawawi by 805 votes.

Meanwhile, the panel also dismissed five other appeals on election petitions after hearing submissions from the parties concerned.

The appeals were brought by the Barisan Nasional (BN)  for the Bachok parliamentary seat and the Jelawat state seatt in Kelantan and PAS for three state seats, namely Pasir Panjang, Manong and Rungkup in Perak.

Meanwhile, another panel of the Federal Court chaired by Court of Appeal president Md Raus Sharif also dismissed an election petition appeal brought by PAS for the Selama state constituency in Perak.

Justice Md Raus, chairing a five-member panel comprising justices Abdull Hamid Embong, Ahmad Maarop, Hasan Lah and Abu Samah Nordin, made the ruling after counsel representing the appellant Mohd Akmal Kamaruddin did not appear in court for the appeal.

The court dismissed the appeal by Mohd Akmal with RM20,000 in costs.

The court also set Dec 23 for a decision on the appeals of election petitions for the parliamentary constituencies of Bagan Datoh, Sungai Besar, Tapah and the state constituency of Lubok  Merbau.

- Bernama