BERSIH 2.0 advocacy officer, Zoe Randhawa, yesterday withdrew her court case against the Election Commission (EC) that had denied her a local inquiry into her delineation objection for P117 Segambut despite having collected the 100 signatures required.
Just a day before the leave application hearing for a judicial review, she received a notice (attached below) from the EC that they will hold a local inquiry after all.
Either the EC are misusing their powers to deny local inquiries as they wish or they do not even know their basic responsibilities as an election body.
The EC has a legal obligation to hold such inquiries when an objection arises despite whatever dubious excuses they concoct.
Taking the EC to court to remind them of their duty to hold a local inquiry is an unfortunate waste of time and resources. It is appalling that they cannot even perform the bare minimum required of them under the Federal Constitution.
A similar case happened with the delineation objection for Setiawangsa which yielded the same outcome – the EC only agreed to hold an inquiry after they were taken to court.
With blunder after blunder, it’s becoming clear that the EC’s bad image is not caused by negative public perception, but rather their own incompetence.
The Segambut and Setiawangsa cases are not the first and they will not be the last. BERSIH 2.0 urges anyone who has been denied a local inquiry, despite fulfilling the necessary requirements, to take legal action. The EC must be held responsible for their words and actions to ensure free and fair elections and promote a healthy democracy.
BERSIH 2.0 will continue its work to hold the EC accountable as it further tries to shirk its constitutional responsibilities in delineation and other electoral processes.
Signed by BERSIH 2.0 Steering Committee members
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