PUTRAJAYA, Nov 13 — Barisan Nasional (BN) today proposed a “global settlement” of all election petition appeals filed by both the ruling coalition and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, in a “reconciliation” move months after one of the most divisive national polls in the country’s history.
The proposal was registered at the Federal Court, which was originally scheduled to hear appeals on petitions challenging the results of five constituencies in the 13th General Election last May 5.
BN lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun said they decided to make the offer as the court is not the proper avenue to determine who should take charge of the country.
“There is no need to go to the courts. The court should not be used as a means to change the government,” he told journalists, confirming that the offer was made.
Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, who is also BN co-counsel, said the offer was akin to an act of reconciliation.
“This is a positive move, and we will see if we can resolve the issues amicably,” he said.
Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Rauf Sharif, who chaired a five-member bench at the apex court, gave both sides two weeks from today to discuss among themselves and find a settlement, failing which the court will make a decision for them.
The results of last May’s national polls spurred a flurry of protests nationwide, as the BN kept a firm grip on federal rule though it saw its influence diminish.
BN won 133 federal seats in the 222-seater Dewan Rakyat against the 89 bagged by PR, despite the opposition winning 53 per cent of the popular vote against just 47 per cent going the way of BN.
Unhappy voters turned out in force in the days after the polls, attending a succession of Black 505 rallies claiming that the election was rigged and demanding for fresh polls.
The results also drove a wedge in racial relations, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak blaming a “Chinese tsunami” for BN’s poor performance.
Today’s deal, if agreed to by PR, would close off the last legal avenue available to the opposition in overturning the controversial results of the recent election.
PAS lawyer Hisham Fauzi, however, said that they are still not clear on the details of the offer from their BN counterparts, though it would likely mean that all parties would forgo asking for costs.
“As it is, all the submissions have already been filed. If we cannot come to a settlement, the court will decide. If we want to settle, then we will have to inform the court before the deadline,” he said when met outside the courtroom.
It is understood that BN has filed four appeals at the Federal Court, while Pakatan has filed more than 10 appeals.
Hisham said it would be up to PR to decide whether or not they want to entertain BN’s proposition, but stressed that a settlement would detract from the original purpose of the appeal process which is to find a definite answer on whether the Election Court was right to strike out their petitions on technicalities.
He said that three areas figured prominently as grounds for dismissal of election petitions — Rules 9 and 34 of the Election Petition Rules 1954 governing the appointment of solicitors, that a petition must be filed by the petitioner himself, and that the petitioner personally serve the petition on the respondents.
“These three grounds were used in all the rulings that struck out election petitions across the country. We are of the view that rule 9 and 34 cannot overrule the Federal Constitution and the Legal Profession Act,” he said.
Should PR consider taking up the “global settlement” offer, Hisham said they would then need to look at extending the deal to petitions that were not raised to the higher court in view of the high costs imposed by the Election Court.
He said the costs incurred by unsuccessful petitions have gone far beyond what was the norm in previous general elections, when it never exceeded the RM10,000 deposit required to go with each petition.
“Now it has gone so high. In Terengganu, PAS was told to pay RM150,000 in costs for one petition,” he said, referring to the party’s failed attempt to challenge the results of the Kuala Berang state seat.
“Because of the high costs, PAS will have to pay between RM1.6 million and RM1.7 million in costs for election petitions that were struck out nationwide,” he said.
PR and BN filed at least 56 election petitions across the country, 35 of which were by the opposition while the ruling coalition put in 21 submissions.
None of the petitions were successful, as the Election Court imposed some of the highest costs on petitioners in the history of the country with the Kuala Berang petition setting the record for being the most expensive failure.
