A COURT of Appeal Judge, who had previously presided over electoral disputes by opposition lawmakers, has refused to recuse himself from presiding over a pivotal redelineation case involving the Election Commission (EC) and the Selangor state government.  

Justice Idrus Harun, who leads three-judge panel, was set to hear today a motion of notice to set aside a stay by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, which was imposed on the elections body from conducting any inquiry for the entire state.

“The first matter involving my recusal by the respondent, after consideration, I find no merit for the application,” Idrus told counsel Ambiga Sreenevasan, who appeared for the state government.

Also sitting on the panel are Justices Yaacob Md Sam and Rhodzariah Bujang. Representing the EC is senior federal counsel Amarjeet Singh.

Opposition-led Selangor had sought to recuse Idrus, who sat on legal disputes between the EC and Sarawak PKR’s Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

A reference was also made to a November 28 Court of Appeal ruling by a three-judge panel, on which Idrus had sat, regarding a legal challenge by Malacca voters, led by Chan Tsu Chong, against the EC.

In that judgement, the Court of Appeal had concluded that the EC “should not be hampered in any manner to carry out its constitutional function because of the intervening act to stay the exercise in the state of Selangor.”

That conclusion further read that the EC “is constitutionally bound to proceed with all local enquiries in order to discharge its constitutional duty.”

In its notice of motion for recusal, Selangor further stated that Idrus had “denied the rights and has no consideration for the rights of other voters in Selangor who have made a representational objection” under Section 5 of the Federal Constitution.

Ambiga further submitted to the panel an application of adjournment given the short notice given by the EC in challenging the stay.

“We need to put in an affidavit. What is the reasons for this haste?” she told the court.  

“The EC has until September 2018 to complete their redelineation. There is no practical reasons for this application when half of the country is on holidays.”

High Court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan allowed the application by the state government last Thursday that a stay be granted on the EC, until the Court of Appeal decides on the matter on constitutional grounds.

The EC notice to set aside Azizul’s stay was only served to the Selangor government two days ago.

“Of course, the elephant in this room is there is a general election next year. If that is the reason, then it is an improper reason, as the EC must act independent of the government,” Ambiga said.

Idrus allowed for the hearing to be adjourned to Monday.

Selangor filed for a judicial review application in October last year, naming the EC, its chairman Hashim Abdullah and secretary Abdul Ghani Salleh as respondents.

The federal opposition state government sought, besides nullifying the EC’s notice of redelineation, a declaration that the notice lacked details, leading to voters, local authorities or the state government being unable to exercise their constitutional right to file representations.

Selangor also sought a declaration that the EC had violated constitutional provisions on the delimitation of election constituencies, leading to a malproportioned number of voters in seats.

Selangor also cited EC’s failure to use the latest electoral roll in its redelineation exercise and the roll it had relied on for was incomplete and inaccurate, affecting 136,272 voters in Selangor.

The state’s application to a challenge was dismissed by the High Court, saying that the state government was not affected or adversely affected by the EC exercise.

However, due to the stay, all local inquiries have been indefinitely suspended. The EC has until September 2018 complete its redelineation exercise. Selangor has 22 Parliamentary seats. Elections must be held by August. – December 14, 2017.