THE Kuala Lumpur High Court was today told that a suit by Klang incumbent Charles Santiago on the October 10 dissolution of parliament is now academic with the Election Commission (EC) having set November 5 for nomination and November 19 as polling day for the general election (GE). 

Lawyer Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin said “the originating summons filed by the plaintiff (Santiago) should be dismissed by the court as it is now rendered academic”, he submitted. 

Zulkefli was making his submission before judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid in response to an application by the government, caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the EC, to nullify Santiago’s suit, which was filed on October 11. 

EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh at a press conference today announced that polling for the GE would be on November 19, while nomination is on November 5 and early voting on November 15. 

The GE will involve all parliamentary seats throughout the country, with Perak, Pahang and Perlis holding their state elections simultaneously.

The Bugaya state by-elections in Sabah will be held at the same time. 

Zulkefli also submitted that the power to dissolve parliament is the prerogative of the Agong, which cannot be questioned by the court. 

He said the Agong can use his discretion to dissolve parliament without having to seek the advice of the cabinet under Article 40(1) and Article 40(1A) of the Federal Constitution.

“Therefore, the plaintiff’s application is academic because the dissolution of Parliament has been implemented and it has been gazetted,” said the lawyer.

According to Zulkefli, the issue of the constitutionality of the request for the dissolution of parliament by the first defendant (Ismail) is also academic as the Agong consented to it.

He said it is the EC’s constitutional duty to conduct elections, whereby once the dissolution of parliament is gazetted, the EC has to step in and conduct elections within 60 days. 

Santiago’s counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar submitted that the significance of the role played by the cabinet in deciding whether the Agong should be advised to dissolve parliament cannot be downplayed. 

“It is indisputable that severe floods were predicted to occur in November and December 2022 from as early as September 2022. Following the floods that occurred in December last year, the consequences would be catastrophic,” he said. 

Malik further said that at the time, major floods had hit eight states in Peninsular Malaysia, causing approximately 54 deaths and the displacement of about 117,000 people, with losses amounting to RM6.1 billion.

“As evident from the floods last year, the existence of a functioning cabinet is critical in order to make important decisions,” he said. 

He also said the EC had not come up with any plan as to how to conduct the GE during the flood. 

“The matter is not in any way academic as the general election has yet to be held,” he added. 

After hearing the submissions by all the parties, judge Ahmad Kamal set October 28 for a decision via video conference at 4pm. 

Santiago filed the suit on October 11, seeking, among others, a declaration that Ismail’s request to the Agong to dissolve the 14th parliamentary term was in violation of Article 40(1) and 40(1A) of the Federal Constitution because it was not made on advice of the cabinet and is therefore null and void.

He is also seeking to stop the EC from conducting the GE due to the flood season. – Bernama, October 20, 2022.