EC chief: Those unhappy with nomination decisions are free to appeal
Annabelle Lee | Published on Today 4:24 pm | Modified on Today 4:39 pm
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GE14 | Those unhappy with decisions made during nomination day are welcome to take the matter up to court, Election Commission (EC) chief Mohd Hashim Abdullah said today.
He said this when asked why PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, or Tian Chua, had had his nomination papers rejected when filing them at the Batu nomination centre today.
“Decisions made during the nomination period are made by the Returning Officer (RO).
“So whoever, any of the candidates, who feel they need to object they can do it through a petition, and then taking it to court.
“There is no point to question us here, the incident did not happen here but it happened where they were. Therefore, I hope that when they bring this to court, let the court make a decision,” Mohd Hashim said in a press conference at the EC headquarters in Putrajaya today.
When pressed on why Tian Chua had been allowed to contest back in 2013 despite an RM2,000 fine placed on him at the time, he referred to the grounds given by the RO.
“You need to look at this from the (section) of the law that was applied to him...the amount of fine that was applied to him that the court decided.
“May this was the reason used by the RO...maybe the amount (of fine) was what made him (Tian Chua) lose his qualifications to contest,” he said.
Despite today’s proceedings, Mohd Hashim did not rule out Tian Chua’s chances of contesting in GE14.
“We don’t know the decision that will be made in court, don’t say he can’t contest.
“Even if he can’t make it (in time for elections), there are many ways to conduct elections,” he said, without explaining further.
Tian Chua has lodged a police report against his disqualification.
No report yet on Rantau
Meanwhile, Mohd Hashim answered similarly when asked why PKR’s candidate for the Negeri Sembilan state seat of Rantau, Dr S Streram, had been disallowed from entering the nomination hall and was thus unable to be nominated, as he did not have a candidate pass issued by the EC.
Mohd Hashim admitted that he had not received the full report on what had transpired, but repeated that dissatisfied parties were able to appeal.
“I am still waiting for the full report from the RO, I will not make any allegations.
“In the present time frame, I ask that those who are dissatisfied with the decision made by any parties to appeal, it is not a problem,” he answered.
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