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Yoursay: A court decision that flies in the face of justice

YOURSAY | ‘There’s no need to wait for GE14 to be over to address Tian Chua’s disqualification.’

Tian Chua fails bid for a place in GE14 as court throws out case

Anonymous 459: I find this decision strange. As incumbent Batu MP, Tian Chua's application is for a declaration on his status, and there are precedents that such a wrong reading by the returning officer is against the court's and the Parliament speaker's decision.

There is no need to wait for the election to be over to address this.

Kim Quek: Justice Nordin Hassan rejected Tian Chua’s application, based entirely on Article 118 of the federal constitution.

I quote Article 118 in full: “No election to the House of Representatives or to the Legislative Assembly of a State shall be called in question except by an election petition presented to the High Court having jurisdiction where the election was held.”

This article clearly refers to a case where an election has already been held, where the loser is challenging the results. The use of the word “was” in its past tense leaves no room for ambiguity.

It clearly does not apply to Tian Chua’s case, where he is not challenging the result but the legality of his disqualification as a candidate by the returning officer.

I am quite sure Nordin had enough understanding of simple grammar of the English language so as not to have blundered in the interpretation of Article 118.

What Nordin has displayed exemplifies the hopeless state of decadence of the Malaysian judiciary, which has rapidly deteriorated under the Najib Razak-led rule.

When a country’s judiciary is not capable of delivering justice, democracy and rule of law cannot possibly be sustained. Malaysia is in for a rapid descent into a failed state, unless a new political leadership promptly takes over.

MahuSeeLui: It’s a sad day when a judge of the High Court cannot properly interpret a simple provision of the Constitution that dealt with an election that "was held".

This petition is about the disqualification of a candidate by the returning officer prior to an election, and not about an election that had been held. It demonstrates the calibre, or lack of it, by some of our judges.

Anonymous #44199885: Yes, this is clearly wrong as the election has not been conducted yet. The election only takes place on May 9, and so there is no election results to be challenged.

If the court makes decisions of this nature, it sets a precedent for returning officers to act unlawfully, illegally, indiscriminately and unfairly in the future.

They could then just reject all or some key opposition nominations and hand the incumbents victory. The giving of such an opportunity will deny the rakyat the right to choose their government.

Ben Avatartan: If this is the position taken by the judge then all returning officers can reject Pakatan Harapan candidates and declare BN the winner.

The judge obviously failed to differentiate between an election petition and one challenging the disqualification of a candidate in a to-be-held contest. Petition after the election is of little consolation and useless in this case.

David Dass: Has the Election Court been set up? Could it sit to hear cases like this on an urgent basis? If the answers are in the affirmative than fine.

But if what the judge is saying is that there is no remedy for Tian Chua at all, then there are questions to be asked and answered. It just does not seem right.

P Dev Anand Pillai: The problem with these Gen Y judges is that they apparently don't wish to jeopardise their promotions in the near future and their cushy relationship with the executive. These post-1988 judges do not know what a real independent judiciary is all about.

They would rather be a subservient organ of the state than an independent one. The election is not even done yet, it is the issue of eligibility that is in question here: whether one is qualified to be nominated.

The same candidate had stood for elections in 2013 and won despite this case, and with a decision on the matter fully explained in a judgment given by the courts earlier.

So what doesn't this present court understand? An election court only comes after the elections are completed, and not before the election.

Here it is an issue of being qualified to be nominated before the election, so it is very logical that the High Court has got all the jurisdiction to decide.

If ever a regime change takes place, all these highly acclaimed judicial wizards must be, figuratively speaking, chased down the thoroughfares.

Anonymous #13571680: It is a sad decision. There is a law to be followed. Does the returning officer know the law? He cannot be interpreting it according to his own whims and fancies.

The rakyat are losing confidence in the Election Commission (EC) and the judiciary. This is not good.

Rupert16: The judge is washing his hands off the matter. If that’s his position, then what’s the point in having a GE where the ruling party in future can use all the resources and agencies under its control to prevent the opposition from standing in elections by barring them from entering the nomination centres or for whatever reasons so that they can win the seats unopposed?

The only recourse they have is that the opposition is to go to court after the election is over. What nonsense.

Anonymous_3e86: Although I am sad at the decision of the court, the fault lies in PKR and Tian Chua. They fell into BN’s trap.

The EC rules are clear that a fine of RM2,000 disqualifies a person from elections. Why didn’t PKR and Tian Chua see that coming? They could have asked the EC earlier for a clarification and not assume all is fine.

BN and the EC will do all they can to prevent Pakatan Harapan from contesting, if possible.

Anonymous 15761504748288: This is a blessing in disguise. The voters will punish BN more for this.


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