Activist fails in bid to get info on EC’s redelineation exercise


KUALA LUMPUR: Activist Haris Ibrahim was denied his bid to obtain information on the Election Commission (EC)'s planned redelineation exercise.

Justice Asmabi Mohamad dismissed his application to compel the EC to upload the information to its website.

The High Court judge ruled on Thursday that Haris was premature in his application, as the redelineation had not started.

Justice Asmabi agreed with EC lawyers that Haris lacked locus standi as the areas affected by redelineation had not been confirmed.

She ruled that Haris also failed to define who the aggrieved persons were in his originating summons.

Justice Asmabi said the language provided in the Federal Constitution was clear on the matter, and to allow Haris' application would require the court to "add words to it".

She said a court could not interpret the Constitution as such.

Justice Asmabi ordered Haris to pay RM5,000 in costs.

Haris was represented by Sreekant Pillai, while Senior Federal Counsel Mazlifah Ayob and Nik Azrin Zairin Nik Abdullah acted for the EC.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Haris confirmed he would appeal against the decision.

In January, Haris filed for a court order to compel the EC to furnish the details of all the constituencies for redelineation in its website, just like in India.

He claimed that he had to go into each constituency to check the details and could only make a protest within the limited period of 30 days.

The information he sought included maps and documents related to voters’ own constituencies and surrounding constituencies.

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