(May 27): Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 fears the Election Commission plans to ignore the court order to redo its redelineation process in Sarawak and submit their recommendations to the prime minister to get them bulldozed through Parliament.

Bersih southern region co-ordinator Thomas Fann said although the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections preferred it if the EC did not appeal the Kuching High Court decision that its redelineation process in Sarawak was defective and complied with the court order, it feared the EC would ignore the order.

“There is a real possibility judging from the tone of the chairman (Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof),” Fann said.

“It would be contempt of court and would bring the EC into disrepute but that's what we fear the EC will do anyhow,” Fann said, in reaction to the additional order made by a Kuching High Court on Monday that the EC's public notice on January 5 of its proposal to redraw the electoral boundaries in the state was "not in accordance with Section 4 of the 13th Schedule and therefore null and void".

Justice Yew Jen Kie ordered the EC to republish the public notice giving full details of its redelineation proposals.

The judicial review was sought by PKR Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How and a voter in Ulu Baram, Pauls Baya.

Fann said the EC's actions were tied to the political agenda to keep the ruling Barisan Nasional in power.

His remarks echo talks in Sarawak's rumour mill that the BN would like to have the 11 new seats – the majority in the state's rural areas which is the power base of the BN – that would be created by the electoral redelineation contested in the state election which Chief Minister Tan Seri Adenan Satem must call before mid-June next year.

The rumour mill too has it that an appeal would not get the new seats ready for the state election.

Fann also did not think the EC would succeed in its appeal.

“If they appeal, I can't see how they can win. They clearly didn't comply with the conditions spelt out in the Federal Constitution.”

However, Fann held out hope that the EC would comply with the court order and go through the entire process meticulously.

He said if that happens and the EC complied with all the conditions of the process, Bersih would participate actively in advising voters of what they should do.

“With a detailed proposal, it would make any objections, much easier.”

Fan said if the EC received 86 objections for the defective round, he believed the number would double as voters would be more informed of the process.

Aziz had said the number of objections received was the highest number ever recorded in Sarawak.

In their application for the judicial review, See and Baya stated that he public notice published were made in newspapers that were not in circulation in the affected constituencies – a contravention of one of the requirements of the notice.

Aziz on Monday said the EC would know by this week whether it should appeal against the court ruling.

He said the Attorney-General's Chambers would make the decision. – The Malaysian Insider