Dissatisfied parties in election petitions can appeal in Federal Court - EC

Parties dissatisfied with the High Court judgement of their election petitions can appeal or challenge the decision in the Federal Court.

Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said they were given 14 days after the judgement to file an appeal, as provided under Section 36A of the Election Offences Act 1954.

"The decision by the Federal Court is final," he told Bernama here on Friday, citing Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup's case in the 12th general election.

According to him, Kurup won the Pensiangan parliamentary seat uncontested but was challenged by the PKR in an election petition which subsequently saw the result of the election in the constituency being declared null and void by the Sabah High Court.

However, Kurup appealed against the High Court decision to the Federal Court, which upheld the election result, he said.

Meanwhile, Wan Ahmad said the 13th general election recorded the highest number of election petitions, with BN filing 21, and the opposition, 35.

He said not all the petitions would be accepted by the court, which will first scrutinise them to ensure that procedures were adhered to.

He said election petitions should not be filed simply because the losing party was dissatisfied with the election results.

"This is a major issue because election petitions involve people who are asking the court to reject the decision made in an election by the people."

Should the High Court invalidate the result of the election in a certain area, the High Court must issue a judicial notice to the EC in 14 days to enable the EC to prepare for a by-election to be held within 60 days.

Wan Ahmad said BN's decision to file 21 election petitions proved that EC was transparent and neutral in handling the election process.