Court strikes out Merbok petition

The Election Court today dismissed the petition filed by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Nor Azrina Surip contesting the results of the Merbok parliamentary seat, which was won by Barisan Nasional's (BN) Dr. Ismail Daut at the 13th General Election. Judge Hadhariah Syed Ismail held that the petition filed by Nor Azrina was incomplete as she had failed to present material facts to support that action could be taken against the respondent.

Nor Azrina named Ismail, Merbok parliamentary returning officer and the Election Commission as the first, second and third respondents.

"This is an incomplete petition, the facts are incomplete. I don't wish to waste the court's time with a full hearing. Furthermore, the petitioner did not even state which election rules were contravened by the respondents.

"There must be a link with the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations and Election Offences Act. The petitioner must come with crystal clear facts and grounds," she said.

Hadhariah ordered Nor Azrina to pay RM30,000 in cost to Ismail and RM15,000 each to the second and third respondents.

Ismail won the Merbok seat, which was previously held by PKR, with a majority of 4,122 votes defeating Nor Azrina.

Nor Azrina was represented by lawyer Gooi Hsiao Leung, while Datuk Hashim Jahaya represented Ismail and federal lawyers L.Chandra Devi, Nurulhuda Nur'Aini Mohd Nor, Nik Mohd Noor Nik Kar and Farah Azlina Latif appeared for the second and third respondents.