Monday June 2, 2008 MYT 5:51:26 PM

Court throws out Mat Sabu's election petition

By R.S.N. MURALI

KUALA TERENGGANU: The High Court here threw out an election petition with cost filed by PAS candidate Mohamad Sabu who claimed the 1,085 postal votes for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat contained many statutory loopholes.

Mohamad who lost to Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Razali Ismail in the March 8 general election also alleged the postal votes had disregarded the freedom of voters to make their choice of candidate.

Judge Datuk Ramli Ali when delivering his decision stated that the court had no jurisdiction on the petition and therefore struck it off.

Mohamad, represented by counsel Mohamad Arif Yusuf, named the returning officer Datuk Mat Razali Kassim, the Election Commission (EC) and Razali Ismail as the first, second and third respondents.

The EC and Mat Razali were represented by Azizan Md Arshad, while BN was represented by Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin.

The court also brushed aside one of the objections put forward by the respondents which claimed that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the petition as it failed to comply with Rule 15(1) of the Election Petition Rules which stipulates it had to be submitted by the petitioner and not a representative.

On Sunday, the High Court threw out a petition filed by Barisan candidate Wan Sagar Wan Embong (who stood for Manir seat) against PAS supporters and activists for the alleged wrongdoings on polling day.

PAS candidate Datuk Dr Harun Taib who gained 5,336 votes and won the seat by a 406 majority.