MALAYSIAN EC TO STRIKE OUT PKR’S SUIT ON GE13 OVERSPENDING

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The Election Commission (EC) has filed an application to remove itself as party in a suit brought by the opposition against the prime minister and three others for allegedly overspending in their 13th general election (GE13) campaign.

The application was filed last Friday at the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry.

"The striking out is necessary as the suit is frivolous, vexatious and abuse of court process," court documents sighted by The Malaysian Insider revealed.

It is learnt that the commission is relying on a Federal Court ruling last June which affirmed the findings of a High Court that any party dissatisfied with the election results could only mount a challenge through election petitions.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had filed a suit in July 2013 to nullify May 2013 general election involving 222 parliamentry seats, on grounds it was not free and fair due to the indelible ink fiasco.

On September 3, the High Court ordered Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and EC to file their defence.

Najib has been given until October 1, Tengku Adnan until tomorrow, while the deadline for 1MDB and EC expired today.

• EC filed its defence last Friday.
• High Court deputy registrar Norfauzani Mohd Nordin also instructed the defendants to file other interlocutory applications by October 9.
• Meanwhile, an EC official said the striking out application would be heard first before the court proceeded to hear the main suit.
• On August 12, PKR filed the suit against Najib for violating election laws following The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) report that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) ended up in the prime minister's personal accounts.
• On August 3, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in an unsigned statement said the cash was a donation.
• The plaintiffs in the suit are de facto PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a jail sentence for a sodomy conviction, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Batu MP Tian Chua, former PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and New Hope Movement (GHB) member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
• Nurul Izzah said that the facts of the case exposed corruption and various corrupt tactics used by BN to win the 13th general election.

It is obvious that the RM2.6 billion used is more than 26 times the allowed amount as outlined by Malaysian laws, Nurul Izzah told a press conference on August 12.

She said Section 19 of the Election Offences Act limits electoral spending to RM100,000 and RM200,000 for a state and parliamentary candidate.

Nurul Izzah said the EC had openly ignored the corruption.

Source: The Malaysian Insider