KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): Caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the Election Commission (EC) and the caretaker government have applied to strike out incumbent federal lawmaker Charles Santiago’s legal bid to halt the 15th general election (GE15) from being held this year.
They filed the application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court through law firm Messrs Hafarizam, Wan, Aisha Mubarak on Friday (Oct 14) afternoon.
Charles is seeking a court order to stop the EC from holding GE15 this year. He wants the court to issue a declaration that Ismail Sabri’s request to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the dissolution of Parliament was against Article 40(1) and (1A) of the Federal Constitution, as it was not made on the advice of the Cabinet.
Hence, the request for the dissolution of Parliament should be considered null and void, said the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Klang in his legal action filed on Tuesday.
The hearing of the legal action is fixed for Oct 20 before judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid.
In their striking out application, Ismail Sabri, the EC and the government argued that there was no feasible cause of action in Charles’s legal bid, as the powers of the King to dissolve the legislature was non-justiciable and could not be challenged in court.
They also asserted that the King had the prerogative to dissolve Parliament under Article 40(2)(b) and Article 55(2) of the Constitution, and as such, the ruler has the discretion of dissolving the legislature without obtaining the advice of the Cabinet.
The applicants also argued that the question of legitimacy with regard to the dissolution was academic, as the King had already accepted Ismail Sabri’s request under Article 40(2)(b) and Article 55(2).
They stressed that the declaration of the dissolution of Parliament was within the powers of the King, as enshrined in the Constitution and the judiciary must preserve the constitutional principles.
Another reason cited by the applicants in seeking to strike out Charles’s legal action was that the EC had a constitutional duty under Article 55(4) and read together with Article 113 (1) to hold the general election within 60 days of the dissolution.
The EC’s powers under these articles to hold GE15 within 60 days following the dissolution of Parliament was non-justiciable, they claimed.
The applicants also argued that any challenge against the conduct of elections can only be made by way of an election petition, as stipulated under Article 118 of the Constitution.
In his originating summons filed through Messrs Surendra Ananth, Charles had also sought an injunction to bar the EC from holding GE15, citing opposition from 12 Perikatan Nasional (PN) Cabinet ministers due to the impending monsoon season that could result in floods.
He had pointed out that the floods at the end of last year had resulted in RM1.2 billion losses in his constituency, out of more than RM6 billion recorded in total damages in eight states.