Finally, judges are adhering to election laws
YOURSAY 'Over spending during campaigning in true sense means bribery. One should be punished for such acts which the rakyat cannot tolerate.’
Zahid's polls victory to be challenged
Kim Quek:
This Federal Court decision, based on its interpretation of Rule 9 of the Elections Petitions Rules 1954, has far reaching ramifications.
Many petitions had earlier been thrown out without hearing in the high courts based on the judge’s narrow, irrational and ridiculous interpretation of the same Rule 9 - such as the petitioner was represented by a legal firm instead of an individual advocate, or the petition was not delivered personally by the petitioner to the respondent, or the petitioner did not send the petition by registered post and obtaining the respondent’s acknowledgment of receipt at the same time.
These absurd and unjust dismissals are now deemed legally flawed, following this latest judgment at the nation’s highest court.
The regret is that many had not appealed within the prescribed time due to astronomical legal costs absurdly imposed against them earlier. How to resurrect these cases now?
Wouldn’t it be a gross injustice and a mockery and an unacceptable distortion of the general election, if there is no redress to these major blunders in our judicial system? Can the legal brains of the country come up with a solution?
Gotcha: Over spending during campaigning in true sense means bribery. One should be punished for such acts which the rakyat cannot tolerate.
War Child: The late Mohamed Suffian Hashim, lord president during one of the past general elections (excuse my poor memory), churned out thousands of copies of the election laws from his rented office in Ming Building, Jalan Bukit Nanas, at his own expense for public distribution.
I was one of his volunteers who helped with the legwork. He highlighted the particular law limiting the campaign funds of candidates for state assemblies and candidates for parliament.
He pointed out to me that this law is straight forward and he was very sure all BN candidates flouted this law.
I am amused that it is the first time this law was imposed by our courts. The home minister's position is now at risk. So many among us are wishing for his downfall.
Sirach: This is heartening news indeed. Seeing Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's election "victory" called into question will bring Yuletide joy to many. It’s reason enough to enjoy an especially Merry Christmas.
Hold Awam Accountable: When something like this happens, it begs the question: who has Zahid offended to warrant the removal of patronage which usually protects high-placed powerful politicians like him from prosecution?
Malaysian 001: This is only a ‘sandiwara’, so don’t expect anything beyond this court reversal. The Umno government thinks the rakyat are stupid to believe this.
Let them declare that there be a by-election with Ahmad Zahid being stripped of his seat. Then I would give some hope to our judiciary.
Senior Citizen: Let’s wait and see if this holds water till the end. The duty of the courts is to ensure justice. Judges play the role of God on earth. It is a sacred job.
To those judges out there, if you cannot play this role then simply resign and do something else. If you don’t have the passion for the law and justice, then you have certainly chosen the wrong profession.
Mushiro: I cannot believe that earlier the High Court judge had dismissed the case because the petitioner's lawyer's name was not included in the documents. What a lame excuse to sweep justice into the dustbin.
Pemerhati: Justice Md Raus Sharif established his kangaroo credentials during his involvement in the Perak constitutional crisis case, where according to legal expert Abdul Aziz Bari, the law was turned upside down.
Known kangaroos in the judiciary, most of whom now hold top positions, will from time to time give what appear to be reasonable judgements.
The kangaroo judges do this to create the impression and fool the public and the world into thinking that the Malaysian judiciary is fair and impartial and thus try and hide the fact that it is under PM Najib Razak’s and Umno’s thumb as clearly revealed in the Altantuya Shaariibuu and Perak cases.
But what happens later on in cases where Umno and BN have a vested interest is that the seemingly fair initial judgments will get overturned in favour of Najib, Umno BN and their cronies during the drawn-out legal process.
Botolkah : The judges should not feel threatened by the Umno brainless rogues. Stick with the law and don't side anybody.
We feel that many BN (Umno) MPs and state assembly representatives have taken the law into their own hands and have misused the law for their own gain to be elected reps.
Now the Parliament and state assemblies are like a jungle so much so that we can see some of the BN reps behaving like monkeys and causing havoc there.
Vijay47: Wow, four strikes in a row! So what are you going to do now, Zahid?
Instruct the police to shoot the judges on sight? Then again, you could also consider the possibility that the judges involved are all Shiites.
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