THE Election Commission has ordered incumbent Batu MP Chua Tian Chang to remove all PKR flags and election material in his constituency even as he mounts a challenge against his disqualification to contest the parliamentary seat.

Chua, or popularly known as Tian Chua, has appealed to the courts to overturn the EC’s decision to bar him from defending the seat in the 14th general election. His appeal will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur High Court tomorrow.

The PKR vice-president said he is not going to give in to the EC’s demands now.

“I received a letter yesterday from the EC calling for all material to be removed, but I’m not going to do it. The PKR flags will fly high in Batu,” he said.

Despite the disqualification, Chua has been meeting Batu voters and is confident that the court will affirm that he is qualified to stand for the elections and defend his seat.

He said he will continue to campaign for PKR, not only in Batu but all over the country. He will be in Pahang later today and later will campaign in Malacca.

His confidence in challenging the disqualification stems from the fact that the courts had allowed him to contest in the 2013 elections despite a RM2,000 fine for another offence.

“Since then, there was no issue. If there were an issue, I would not have been elected as MP. If they (EC) had wanted to reject me, they should have done it in the last elections.”

When asked what would happen if the court ruled against him, a confident Chua said he does not see that happening.

He filed an originating summons at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday challenging the EC’s decision to bar him from contesting.

He was disqualified on nomination day because of a RM2,000 fine imposed by the Shah Alam High Court.

Chua said by not allowing him to contest, the EC is denying the 70,000 Batu voters the right to vote for PKR.

The Batu seat will now see a four-cornered fight between Dr Dominic Lau (BN), Azhar Yahya (PAS )and independent candidates P. Prabakaran and V.M. Panjamothy.

Chua won the seat in 2008 and defended it in 2013, defeating Lau by 13,284 votes. – May 2, 2018.