The race is on, court rules

(Malaysian Mirror) - There shall be a by-election in Kota Siputeh, Kedah, the High Court ruled Monday.

High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin dismissed an application by incumbent assemblyman Abu Hassan Sarif and the Election Commission for a stay on a decision she had made on Nov 16 that the state seat in Kedah had been vacated.

This was because Abu Hassan, who was elected to the seat in the March 2008 general election, had missed two consecutive meetings in the state assembly without leave this year.

Power with the Speaker

Alizatul Khair ordered the EC to hold the by-election within 60 days from Nov 16, when the court had made the landmark decision.

In that judgment, she had said the commission had acted illegally and irrationally in deciding there was no vacancy of the Kota Siputeh seat and in holding that Abu Hassan was still its assemblyman.

She had said that the power to give leave from attending the assembly lay with the Speaker.

The commission was represented by Senior Federal Counsel Kamaruddin Md Said while lead counsel Sulaiman Abdullah acted for Kedah state assembly Speaker Dr Abdul Isa Ismail. Lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun represented Abu Hassan.