Two losing PAS candidates from Penang have filed election petitions in the Penang High Court to contest the results in the Kepala Batas parliamentary and Penaga state seat respectively.

The duo - Abdul Khalid Rasid (photo, right) and Subri Mohd Arshad - lost to BN candidates Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Kepala Batas) and Azhar Ibrahim (Penaga) in the general election held on March 21.

The two petitions were filed on the grounds that BN chairperson and premier Abdullah, as well as Azhar, had failed to submit a declaration of their 1999 general election expenses as stipulated under the election laws.

PAS vice-president Mustafa Ali revealed this at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur this morning, at the office of the party's political organ Harakah.

He also said the party would decide within the next two days as to how many more election petitions will be filed.

"All the petitions will be filed in court by the end of this month," he said.

The election results were gazetted on April 12. Candidates have 21 days to challenge the results through election petitions.

Additional petitions

Mustafa confirmed that the additional election petitions will involve seats in Kedah, Johor, Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu..

He said the party plans to contest the outcome in at least seven parliamentary and 10 state seats. These will include the Marang, Dungun and Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seats and Sura state seat, all in Terengganu.

It was previously reported that Kelantan PAS would file elections petitions for two parliamentary (Jeli and Bachok) and nine state seats of Bukit Tuku, Mengkebang, Manek, Urai, Selising, Pengkalan Kubor, Tendong, Melor, Gual Periok and Air Lanas.

The party is also considering a civil suit against the government and Election Commission (EC) over alleged irregularities and to seek fresh elections.

'Restructure commission'

Mustafa, who said the elections were not fair or free, cited reasons like the blanket ban on political talks (ceramah), hike in election deposits for nomination and campaigning, restricted media space, and the use of different electoral rolls.

He alleged that an amendment which allowed candidates to withdraw from contesting within three days of nomination day, had encouraged Barisan Nasional (BN) to try and "buy over" opposition candidates.

As an example, he said the PAS Batang Sadong (Sarawak) parliamentary candidate Adam Ahid had to "hide" for the duration because BN "was attempting to buy (him) over".

Mustafa reiterated suggestions for an independent commission of inquiry into allegations of election irregularities.

He said Abdullah should not ignore such calls, also made by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the Bar Council.

Mustafa further said there is a need to create an election reform committee to restructure the Election Commission especially in terms of the appointment of the commissioners and officials.

His other proposals included an automatic voter registration system, proportional representation system, and a two-party system.

Elaborating on proportional representation, he said this is being implemented in Thailand and Indonesia and that it would better reflect the popular choice since it is based on the number of votes each party receives.

He added that PAS would continue to liaise with foreign groups and non-governmental organisations over its intention to apply pressure on the new government to review the electoral system.

Suhakam's request

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that the EC has been asked by Suhakam to probe into the various allegations of unfair practices and irregularities during the general election.

Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman was quoted as saying that the request was made based on allegations contained in the memorandum received from PAS and Keadilan.

"We have submitted (a report) to the EC (and) we are hoping that the EC will let us know about the investigation so that we can inform the parties that have sent us the memorandums," he said.

He added that Suhakam had yet to receive any feedback from the EC concerning the allegations made.