KUALA LUMPUR: Klang MP Charles Santiago is seeking a court order to stop the General Election due to the rainy season and floods.
The 62-year-old lawmaker filed an originating summons through Messrs Surendra Ananth at the High Court here on Tuesday (Oct 11).
He named Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in his capacity as the prime minister at the material time, the Government and the Elections Commission as the first, second and third defendants respectively.
In the originating summons sighted by The Star, Santiago is seeking a court declaration that Ismail Sabri's request to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on Oct 9 for the dissolution of the 14th Parliament contravened Article 40(1) and (1A) of the Federal Constitution as the request was made by sidestepping the Cabinet and is therefore null and void.
He is seeking a declaration that the 14th Parliament's dissolution on Oct 10 was not in accordance with Article 55(2) of the Federal Constitution and therefore has no legal effect.
In his supporting affidavit, Santiago cited the flood that badly hit eight states in December last year which ultimately resulted in 54 deaths with more than 71,000 people displaced.
He said his constituency, Klang, was one of the badly affected places during the flood.
Santiago claimed that Ismail Sabri had made the request to the King for the Parliament dissolution to take place on a "personal basis" without the support of the Cabinet ministers.
"I verily believe that the request was legally wrong as it could only be done with the support of the Cabinet ministers.
"The first defendant (Ismail Sabri) made the request very close to the coming flood season without considering the effect it would bring to the rights of the voters to exercise their constitutional rights to vote.
"It is more likely than not that the voters, including voters in my constituency, would be forced to risk their lives to exercise their rights to vote," he said.
A hearing has been fixed before High Court judge Justice Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid on Oct 20.
