Court allows stay after quashing Selangor’s EC challenge

KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission’s (EC) report for its redelineation exercise is likely to be delayed, following the High Court’s freeze on local inquiries for Selangor.

Local inquiries, which are where the EC hears objections from the public, local authorities and state government, must be held before it can conclude its redelineation process.

Justice Azizul Azmi Adnan granted a stay pending resolution of appeals, after ruling against the Selangor government’s judicial review which sought to quash the EC’s redelineation notice.

Datuk Dr Cyrus Das, who represented the Selangor government, said the stay pending appeal was necessary because if the inquiry report was handed in to the prime minister, their petition to the Court of Appeals would be rendered academic. Senior federal counsel Datuk Amarjeet Singh argued the EC was a body with constitutional functions and could not be restrained by an injunction.

“Likewise, a stay in this context is effectively an injunction that would stop them from performing their duties,” he said.

In allowing for the stay, Justice Azizul agreed that should the report be handed in, the state’s appeal would be futile.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali told reporters later he was glad a stay was granted pending appeal as that meant the redelineation exercise would be held off, temporarily.

“We feel very strongly on the issues and believe our arguments will be strong enough during the appeal,” he said, adding that the state was pursuing the case to protect the rights of citizens in Selangor.

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhasan said the report could not be done until local inquiries for all states were completed, as the EC was expected to produce a single complete report representing all states.

Since a stay was given to Selangor, it effectively holds up the entire report submission. Selangor is the only state not to have done any inquiry into the proposed redelineation of electoral boundaries for parliamentary and state constituencies.