UDPATED
By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — The High Court here today gave leave to toppled Perak Speaker, V. Sivakumar, to sue the Election Commission (EC) for the right to call by-elections in three state seats he had declared vacant earlier this year.
Judge Lau Bee Lan made the decision in her chambers.
Lawyer for Sivakumar told reporters that he will be filing the motion soon.
The crossover of three state lawmakers in early February triggered a political and constitutional crisis in Perak, which continues to drag on till today.
The Federal Court had on April 9 ruled that the EC is the rightful body to decide whether to call for elections or not.
But it kept quiet on whether the EC’s decision could be challenged, which is the question now raised by Sivakumar and the three-party Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance.
The ousted speaker claims the EC had made the wrong decision in declaring the state seats for Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang still occupied.
Sivakumar (picture), who was officially still the speaker then, had sent a letter informing the EC that Jamaluddin Md Radzi, Osman Jailu and Hee Yit Foong had resigned as state assemblymen for Behrang, Changkat Jering and Jelapang respectively.
He had accepted their undated quit letters, which they claim they were forced to sign when they were first elected.
Jamaluddin and Osman were from PKR while Hee was a DAP woman. All three first-term state lawmakers broke ties with PR suddenly and instead pledged loyalty to the federal coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN).
The move caused PR, which was then ruling Perak, to lose its slim majority in the state.
His challenge of the EC’s decision is the basis for the judicial review.
Sivakumar wants the court to order the EC to carry out by-elections in the three state seats.
He also named Jamaluddin, Osman and Hee in his suit.
A second suit against the EC and the same three assemblymen filed in early March by another group made up of three former Perak executive councillors (exco) and three Perak citizens, was also heard today.
Chen Fook Chye, S. Sivanesan, Tai Sing Ng were part of the state executive council during PR’s 10-month rule which ended in February while Ahmad Sabry, Abdul Latif and Foo Hon Wai are ordinary citizens who are registered voters in the three state seats.
All six claim they have been denied to vote in an elected representative of their choice because the EC refused to conform to Sivakumar’s decision and hold by-elections.
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can i just accept my monthly salary from my boss then refuse to go to work everyday ? no, because we have a employment contract !! same case here, nobody forced them to sign the letters, and when they signed the letters, they knew what the letters are for, there was a legal contract !!