The Kuching High Court orders the Election Commission to redraw Sarawak's electoral boundaries after declaring the original notice published by the EC as 'null and void'. – Pic courtesy of Bersih 2.0, May 25, 2015. -The High Court judge who ordered the Election Commission (EC) to republish its public notice of its proposal to redraw the electoral boundaries in the state, added another order today to declare the published notice as "not in accordance with Section 4 of the 13th Schedule and therefore null and void."
Judge Yew Jen Kie said the reason for the additional order to her ruling last week was to explain why she ordered the notice to be republished.
In her ruling on the judicial review, brought by Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How and a voter in Ulu Baram, Pauls Baya, the judge agreed with See's contention that there was serious and considerable lacking in the detailed particulars of the proposed recommendations disclosed by EC which were opened for inspection from January 5 to February 4.
Yew, in the ruling, found discrepancies in the proposals that were published in the regional dailies, New Sarawak Tribune and its Malay-language sister paper, Utusan Sarawak, with the one that was shown at the office counter of the Sarawak State Election Office.
Yew said it was essential for the EC to publish the electoral roll, the list of proposed changes, the areas affected so the public would know how they would be affected by the changes to the constituency, if they are affected and therefore could make a representation to the EC.
She said the failure of the EC to publish the notice in detail had breached the requirements spelt out in the Federal Constitution.
The Sarawak government's legal adviser, Datuk J.C. Fong, when speaking to reporters raised more legal questions when he said Yew only made an order to republish the notice but said nothing about the inquiry and representation in the redelineation hearings that were conducted in all the major towns of the state.
He said even though the notice was deemed defective, it does not mean the inquiry too was defective.
"That's a legal point that needs to be argued." he said.
The EC has two years – from the day the Sarawak state assembly approved the increase of the state seats by 11 in November last year – to complete the seat redrawing exercise.
In their application for the judicial review, See and Baya had argued the EC had “abridged, restricted and/or impaired their rights to have notice of the effect of the EC's proposed recommendations and has acted in error and or breaching the provisions of the Federal Constitution”.
See and Baya applied for the leave for an ex parte application for a judicial review of the exercise on February 2 with the court granting them the leave on February 17.
They were seeking to have the court declare the EC's notification that was published in The New Sarawak Tribune and Utusan Sarawak, two national papers and one Sabah newspaper was not in compliance with the provisions contained in the Thirteenth Schedule of the Federal Constitution as the papers were not in circulation in the constituency to be redrawn.
See, representing himself, and Baya also argued that the EC had failed to publish the notice in a newspaper that is widely circulated in the constituencies affected.
See said the New Sarawak Tribune and Utusan Sarawak have limited circulation in the constituencies that were proposed to be redelineated. – May 25, 2015
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