PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission (EC) must wait till the appeal period ends for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat election petition case before it takes the next step.
An EC source said the Kuala Terengganu election petition was still under the court, which allows for an appeal process.
It is understood that there is a 14-day appeal period for court cases.
"Even though PAS has announced their decision (not to appeal), due process must be followed.
"The period for appeal still stands, so only when this is over can the EC be informed of the case status from the court.
"After that, any official statements can be made by the EC," the source said on Saturday (July 8).
Earlier on Saturday, PAS announced that it would not appeal the election petition decision for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat.
The decision of the court was disclosed by Wan Rohimi Wan Daud, who represented Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim, the PAS candidate for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).
PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang had approved for the party to announce it at a central meeting which held in Kuala Terengganu earlier Saturday.
On June 27, the Terengganu Election Court nullified the victory of PAS' candidate Ahmad Amzad Hashim following allegations of vote-buying.
Judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril said the court found that the petitioner, Datuk Mohd Zubir Embong of Barisan Nasional, had successfully proven that corrupt practices had occurred with the aim of influencing voters in that parliamentary seat during GE15.
On Jan 3, the Umno filed an election petition at the Kuala Terengganu High Court to annul the GE15 results for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat, in accordance with the Election Offences Act 1954.
Terengganu Umno chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said among the points raised were allegations of PAS bribing voters by distributing financial aid from the state government, through the i-Pencen, i-Belia and i-Siswa initiatives between Nov 15 and 17, 2022, just a few days before the GE15.
Ahmad Amzad won the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat in GE15 with a majority of 40,907 votes, defeating three other challengers, including Mohd Zubir.
