KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — Incumbent Klang MP Charles Santiago today clarified again that his decision to go to court to stop the 15th general elections is not an attack on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
In a statement today, the DAP man said they are challenging caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's request for the dissolution of Parliament, which he claims was done without Cabinet support.
“Umno's support for the dissolution of Parliament can only count for about 17 per cent of the MPs.
“Other political parties publicly disagreed with this decision, including Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN). Assuming that all the PH and PN MPs oppose the dissolution, this would amount to 135 lawmakers: a clear majority,” Charles said.
He added that out of 80 ministers and deputy ministers in the cabinet, only 29 ministers are from the BN party.
“The Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin, had publicly disagreed with the holding of the general election in 2022,” he said, adding that the caretaker Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu revelation that Ismail Sabri did not inform the cabinet of the dissolution.
“Our stand is clear: we are challenging the advice given to His Majesty by Ismail Sabri, which is void under the circumstances explained above,” he said.
On October 12, Charles sought a court order to stop GE15 from being held this year, even though Parliament had been dissolved on October 10, paving the way for a general election to be called within 60 days.
He filed an originating summons at the High Court on Tuesday, which named Ismail Sabri, the government, and the Election Commission (EC) as respondents.
The EC will meet on October 20 to decide the dates.
