THE Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning rejected an application by former Nenggiri assemblyman Mohd Azizi Abu Naim to stop this Saturday’s by-election.
This is the second time the court has dismissed Azizi’s injunction application.
Azizi had sought the application to stop the by-election pending his legal suit against Bersatu over his membership cessation.
The state seat had been declared vacant by the Kelantan speaker following Bersatu’s stand that Azizi’s membership in the party had automatically been terminated following his support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the unity government.
Azizi’s first attempt to stop the by-election was denied by the High Court on June 27.
This morning, judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain ruled that the law did not permit an injunction against the Election Commission (EC), which exercises a vital function in the democratic process.
She also said allowing such an injunction would not be in the public interest and would cast doubt on the democratic process.
She added that Azizi could have offered himself as a candidate on nomination day but had declined to do so.
“His failure to offer himself as a candidate means he is no longer interested in running for the Nenggiri seat,” she said as reported by Malaysiakini.
“A by-election determines the free will of the people and their approval or disapproval of the plaintiff (Azizi) representing them,” the judicial commissioner said.
The court ordered Azizi to pay RM30,000 to the respondents, namely the EC, the Kelantan state speaker, and Bersatu.
The civil court also set December 18 to hear Azizi’s main lawsuit over his Bersatu membership cessation.
The by-election will see a straight fight between Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani from Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) and Mohd Rizwadi Ismail from Bersatu/Perikatan Nasional.
In last year’s state election, Azizi won the seat by beating BN’s Ab Aziz Yusoff by a majority of 810 votes.
The Nenggiri constituency has 20,259 registered voters. – August 12, 2024.
