SEREMBAN: Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said he will discuss with his lawyers whether he should appeal against the Election Court decision today declaring null and void his unopposed election as the state assemblyman for Rantau in Negri Sembilan in the 14th General Election.
He has 14 days to file the appeal, he said to reporters outside the court.
The Election Court today ordered a by-election for the constituency, stating that the act of having prevented the proposed PKR candidate Dr S. Streram from entering the nomination centre on April 28 because he did not have a name tag or pass was not proper.
Streram had filed a petition to declare Mohamad’s election null and void, naming Mohamad as the first respondent, Rembau parliamentary constituency returning officer Amino Agus Suyub as the second respondent and the Election Commission (EC) as the third respondent.
Asked whether he will defend the seat in the by-election, Mohamad said that will be left to the party to decide.
In KUALA LUMPUR, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi tweeted that Umno will again field Mohamad in the by-election.
Meanwhile, Dr Streram said he was happy with the decision of the court, adding that it upheld parliamentary democracy.
“I am very happy because we fought for six months with a strong line-up of lawyers to secure a decision for the people of Malaysia. Whether I will be the candidate in the by-election is for PKR to determine, although I was the one who challenged the election result,“ he said.
In PUTRAJAYA, EC chairman Azhar Azizan Harun said the EC will only hold the by-election if there is no appeal against the court decision in 14 days.
“The by-election will only be held if there is no appeal or only after the process of appeal right up to the Federal Court is completed,“ he said in a statement.
