Former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee has been disqualified as the member of parliament for Gaya and a by-election for the seat will be called within 60 days, the Election Commission announced today.

According to Bernama, this decision was reached after a meeting between the EC and the Attorney-General's Chambers.

"As a result of the meeting, the Attorney-General's Chambers and the commission have agreed that Yong's petition for pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is not applicable in cases involving election offences," EC chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said.

Rashid added that the commission took into account the present election laws, the Sept 3 Federal Court's decision to reject Yong's application and the ruling by the Court of Appeal on June 6 last year in reaching its decision.

Rashid said that the commission would hold a by-election within 60 days from today as provided for under Article 54(1) of the Federal Constitution.

The commission will hold a special meeting at its headquarters in Putrajaya on Friday to decide on the dates for the writ, notice, nomination and polling for the by-election, he added.

Rashid told Bernama that the commission had received a letter from Yong dated yesterday stating that he was seeking a royal pardon for the Gaya and Likas seats.

'Pardon does not exist'

However, the Election Commission chief said he had been advised by the AG that Yong's appeal would not affect the process of holding the by-election because "in this matter, the question of pardon does not exist."

In June last year, Election Court judge Muhammad Kamil Awang had declared null and void the election results for the Likas state seat in the Sabah state election in March 1999 after finding Yong guilty of committing corrupt practice in the election.

On Sept 3, the Federal Court rejected Yong's application for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal's ruling upholding the Election Court's judgment.

Yong, who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, said yesterday he had made a petition for pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Sabah to maintain his position as the MP for Gaya and Likas state assemblyman.

Yong was reported to have said that the petition for pardon from the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong was submitted yesterday while that to the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Sabah three days ago.