PUTRAJAYA, Oct 15 — The Federal Court today dismissed an application for leave to challenge the planned redelineation of Sarawak's electoral boundaries.
A three-member panel, chaired by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, unanimously ruled that the application did not fulfill the requirements laid out in Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act (COJA) 1964.
Raus said the panel also found that the 15 questions submitted in support of the leave application were academic, and that the questions would not have any reasonable chance of success even if they were to be allowed through.
The application was made by Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How and Pauls Baya, a voter in Ulu Baram, who sought to challenge the Court of Appeal's decision last week to overturn a May 15 ruling by the Kuching High Court ordering the Election Commission (EC) to republish its redelineation notice on grounds that it lacked details.
Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who was acting for See, said today's ruling was disappointing as they had hoped the Federal Court would come to a definitive decision on the constitutional issues related to the case.
"It is a missed opportunity to finalise the position on Article 113 and the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution," she said when met outside the court.
Both Article 113 and the 13th Schedule deal with all matters related to national and state elections, from the functions of the EC to the setting of constituency boundaries.
Ambiga said with today's ruling, her client has exhausted all legal avenues to challenge Sarawak's redelineation exercise.
"Next, we will try when it comes the turn of Sabah and the Peninsula," she said.
In its redelineation exercise for Sarawak, the EC is seeking to create 11 new state constituencies, increasing it from the existing 71 constituencies to 82.
Sarawak must hold its state polls by next year, as it nears the end of the ruling Barisan Nasional's five-year term.
