EC decision is unconstitutional: Kit Siang

PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has acted unconstitionally by refusing to recognise Perak state assembly speaker V. Sivakumar’s decision to hold by-elections on the Changkat Jering and Behrang state seats, said DAP national advisor Lim Kit Siang.

“The Commission’s constitutional duty is to act on the Perak speaker’s official notification on the vacancy of the two state assembly seats and call for by-elections to be held in the next 60 days,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

He said the Commission had no jurisdiction to dispute the speaker’s decision.

“Any such legal challenge should come from (Behrang assemblyman) Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and (Changkat Jering assemblyman) Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu if they want to challenge the legality of their resignations from their respective state assembly seats,” he said.

The Election Commission decided on Tuesday that the two were still the assemblymen for the two seats.

Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof said here that the decision was made because both Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman had written a letter to Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar claiming their resignations were not valid.

On Monday, Sivakumar had handed over the disputed letters of resignation purportedly from the two men to the state election director Adli Abdullah to seek by-elections for the two constituencies - The Star Online