Poll result does not affect me: defector

Changkat Jering assemblyperson Mohd Osman Jailu said the Bukit Gantang by-election results which saw the victory of ousted Pakatan menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin does not affect him.

Met at the Federal Court in Putrajaya today, he was asked to comment on the PAS victory in Bukit Gantang.

The application against Perak speaker V Sivakumar by Osman and the two other independents was being heard today on matters of interpretation.

"I do not think it affects me. Furthermore, I am not the appropriate person to comment on the matter. I have no further comments," he told Malaysiakini.

Changkat Jering, is a state seat under the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency in Perak. Nizar won the by-election when he garnered a higher majority compared to March 8 general election.

Nizar obtained 21,860 votes while BN’s Ismail Saffian polled 19,071 votes. The majority of 2,789 was a significant improvement over the 1,566-majority achieved by PAS’ Roslan Shaharom whose death in February resulted in the by-election to be called.

Accompanying Osman at the Federa Court was Behrang assemblyperson Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi.

Osman, Jamaluddin and Jelapang assemblyperson Hee Yit Foong want the court to declare that they have not resigned and are still elected representatives.

The matter is before the apex court following matters of interpretation to decide on whether it is the speaker or the Election Commission who has the final say in determing a state seat vacant or that their resignation letters purportedly tendered by them was valid.

The three had made the application to refer the matter to the Federal Court under Article 63 of the Perak constitution.

The trio played a major role in the downfall of the Perak Pakatan government which led to the ascendency of Barisan Nasional's menteri besar Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Apex court dismisses preliminary objection

Meanwhile, in a related development, the apex court ruled it has jurisdiction to determine the constitutional issue of the Perak state seat vacancy and dismiss the preliminary objection brought by Sivakumar's counsel Sulaiman Abdullah.

Court of Appeal president Justice Alauddin Md Sheriff, leading a five-man bench, ruled that the court has the jurisdiction under Article 63 to hear the application.

The decision was unanimous. Also in the panel were Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Ariffin Zakaria, and Federal Court judges Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman and S Augustine Paul, along with Court of Appeal judge James Foong.

Lawyer Tommy Thomas (right), also for Sivakumar, then indicated he would submit on the arguments of res judicata (matter already judged).

This follows another ruling by the apex court on March 23 for the hearing of Zambry and the BN's state exco's suit against Sivakumar, which then ruled that it could only hear referrals in relation to the Federal Constitution and not state constitutions.

The Federal Court, which is the country's highest court, will now hear the merits of the application tomorrow.

Representing the Election Commission was attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail. The three assemblypersons were represented by Firoz Hussin Ahmad Jamaluddin.