PETALING JAYA: Lawyer Datuk Shaharudin Ali is challenging the legitimacy of the Election Commission (EC) to function with only a “single member”, after filing a lawsuit to declare the commission “non-existent”.
Shaharudin noted that the EC currently consists of only a single man — namely its chairman Azhar Azizan Harun — and that as such, he believed the EC, which was created under Article 114 of the Federal Constitution, was invalid and illegal.
He added that it was unimaginable that the functions of the EC, which included conducting both federal and state elections and controlling and preparing electoral rolls, could be conveniently carried by one person.
“The High Court in Shah Alam will soon decide the fundamental question of law, whether a ‘single member’ of the EC may carry out and execute the heavy and onerous duties entrusted to it by the Federal Constitution, all by that single member, sitting alone.
“We have today filed a suit to seek multiple declaratory orders and among others, a declaration that the EC is non-existent in law,” he said in a statement today.
Azhar became the sole member of the commission after his former deputy chairman Tan Sri Othman Mahmood and five other members resigned on Jan 1, with new candidates yet to be announced.
Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa had last month questioned the legitimacy of the EC, claiming that the constitutional requirement was to have seven members.
In response to this, Azhar had said that he could function individually and that all his decisions were valid and lawful under the constitution, adding that this was based on the constitution and advice from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
Meanwhile, Shaharudin said should the court rule in his favour the suit to challenge the legitimacy of the EC, the Semenyih by-election, which was set to be held on Feb 16, would have to wait until the composition of the EC is regularised by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“We have filed a certificate of urgency to ensure that the counsel can be heard soonest possible,” he said.
