INCUMBENT Klang MP Charles Santiago has reiterated that his ongoing suit to stop the Election Commission (EC) from carrying out the 15th General Elections (GE15) has nothing to do with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decision to dissolve Parliament.
Instead, the DAP leader said he is only challenging caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s request for Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah to do so, which the former claimed was done without Cabinet support.
In a statement today, Santiago added that UMNO’s support for the dissolution of Parliament could only count for about 17% of the federal lawmakers in the Dewan Rakyat prior to the lower house being dissolved on Monday (Oct 10).
“Other political parties publicly disagreed with this decision, including Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional (PN),” he noted.
“Assuming that all the Pakatan and PN MPs oppose the dissolution, this would amount to 135 lawmakers: a clear majority.”
On the other hand, of the 80 caretaker Cabinet members and deputy ministers, only 29 of the caretaker ministers are from Barisan Nasional (BN).
“Caretaker health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has publicly disagreed with the holding of the general elections in 2022, while caretaker youth and sports minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has publicly stated that Ismail did not inform Cabinet about the dissolution,” he noted further.
Following this, Santiago filed an originating summons at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Tuesday (Oct 11) to have it declared that Ismail’s request to the Agong to dissolve Parliament contravened Articles 40(1) and (1A) of the Federal Constitution.
The articles in question have to do with the King’s duties, namely on accepting and acting in accordance with the advice of Cabinet or a minister acting under the general authority of Cabinet.
“No legal effect”
As a result of this supposed breach of constitutional provisions, Santiago believes that the dissolution of Parliament is of no legal effect.
The primary reason for Santiago hailing Ismail, the Government and the EC to court is as holding GE15 during the upcoming monsoon season can cause loss of lives and livelihoods (Klang was one of the most affected places during last December floods).
Furthermore, repeated letters by Santiago to the EC were not acknowledged and left unanswered, leaving him with no choice but to seek answers through legal channels.
Meanwhile, Santiago noted that Messrs Hafarizam, Wan Mubarak and Aisyah have since entered an appearance for the defendants and filed an application to strike out his originating summons.
“In essence, they are saying that the courts cannot entertain my challenge as the courts cannot look behind the dissolution,” Santiago said.
In any case, Santiago reiterated his stand that the advice given to Sultan Abdullah by Ismail is void under the aforementioned circumstances.
As per the constitution, snap elections must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of Parliament, meaning GE15 will have to take place by Dec 10, 2022, right smack in the monsoon season and when floods usually take place.
Going by convention, polls could be held in early November; the 13th and 14th General Elections (GE13 and GE14) that were held in 2013 and 2018, respectively, took place one month after Parliament was dissolved.
This will also take into account what the Agong said on Monday (Oct 10) about his hope that the EC will take into account the northeast monsoon season (expected to start in mid-November) when deciding on GE15 dates. – Oct 15, 2022
Main photo credit: Istana Negara
