Kuala Lumpur: The High Court in Malaysia has
rejected an attempt by citizens overseas to obtain voting
rights.
Six Malaysians living in the UK took the country's
Election Commission to court last year after it refused to
register them as voters.
Dismissing their application, Justice Rohana Yusuf
ruled that the Election Commission's (EC) decision not to
register the six as absent voters was in accordance with the
law.
In her judgement, she said it was made clear, at the
outset by the applicants, that they were not challenging the
validity of the Elections Regulations but merely questioning
the validity of the decision made by the EC.
She said it was also not suggested anywhere in their
application that the EC's decision was not in compliance with
the law.
She said the court could not make an order directing
the EC to register the applicants as absent voters as that
would tantamount to ordering the EC to act against the
provisions of laws which were "valid, enforceable and remains
unchallenged".
"The application in my view is ludicrous and
bordering on abuse of court process," she said dismissing it.
Under Malaysian law, only government workers, army
personnel, students and their spouses are eligible to vote
from overseas.
The Election Commission recently said it would consider
all the voting rights of all Malaysians abroad, but did not
specify when this would take place.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has until March 2013 to
call general elections, but it is widely expected that he may
announce the date this year.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 06, 2012, 18:32