CHALLENGES TO MARCH ELECTION RESULTS

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000393

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM PGOV MY
SUBJECT: CHALLENGES TO MARCH ELECTION RESULTS



1. (U) Summary. Losing candidates in Malaysia,s March 2008
elections have filed petitions challenging results in 12
parliamentary districts and 17 state assembly districts.
Based on past precedent, such challenges rarely succeed, but
the ruling coalition conceivably could regain power in Perak,
a state narrowly won by the opposition. End summary.


29 Election Results Challenged
--------------


2. (U) The Malaysian Election Commission (EC) announced on
May 13 that 29 election petitions were filed in various high
courts nationwide to challenge the results of the March 2008
general election. At issue are 12 (of 222) parliament and 17
(of 505) state assembly seats. According to the Malaysian
constitution, candidates who object to the election outcomes
and who have strong evidence to substantiate their claims may
file an election petition to the High Court to review the
results. Admissible evidence includes bribery, intimidation
or any misconduct that affects the result of the elections;
violation of election laws and regulations; corrupt or
illegal practice committed by the candidates or their agents;
and any issues that may disqualify candidates from
contesting. According to the EC Deputy Chairman Wan Ahmad
Wan Omar, the majority of the 29 petitioners, complaints
involved alleged corrupt practices and disputes over postal
voters. Under Malaysian Election law, election petitions
must be resolved within six months from date of filing.
After the 2004 general election 43 election petitions were
filed but all were dismissed by the election courts. The
last successful election petition, in July 2001, resulted in
a fresh election for a seat in Sabah.


Some Key Election Petitions
--------------


3. (SBU) According to Wan Ahmad, no election petitions were
filed in the Pakatan Rakyat (PA) controlled states of Penang,
Selangor and Kelantan or in Barisan Nasional (BN) controlled
Melaka, Johor and Pahang. In Perak, however, where the
opposition coalition won a slim three-seat majority in the
state assembly, as yet unidentified losing candidates of five
state seats have challenged the results and therefore the
PA,s control of the state conceivably could be at risk.
Another petition in Perak involves a more high-profile
challenge by the opposition Islamic Party PAS to UMNO Women
Chief and former Minister of International Trade and Industry
Minister Rafidah Aziz, who narrowly won a parliamentary sea.
A local election monitoring NGO tells us that Rafidah could
be disqualified for not having signed all the necessary
nomination papers.


4. (U) The Peoples Justice Party (PKR) has also filed a
petition challenging the win of UMNO Deputy Youth Chief and
PM Abdullah son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin in a Negeri Sembilan
parliamentary district, charging vote counting
irregularities, bribery and intimidation of voters, and use
of government resources and facilities by the BN candidate.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) has challenged the results
in two parliamentary districts it lost by a handful of votes
in Sabah and Sarawak, and the opposition also has challenged
narrow victories by several prominent BN figures, including
Minister of Federal Territories Zulhasnan Rafique,s
Setiawangsa, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Razali Ismail,
Deputy Minister of Rural and Regional Development Tan Sri
Joseph Kurup, and UMNO Youth Secretary General Datuk Rahman
Dahlan. For its part the BN has challenged wins by PKR
Supreme Council Member Zakaria Nordin and DAP Treasurer
General Fung Kui Lon.


5. (SBU) Comment. As noted above, election petitions
rarely succeed, and in any case the petitions stemming from
the March election cannot significantly alter the balance of
power in Parliament. The ruling coalition conceivably could
regain power in Perak, a state narrowly won by the
opposition, but this would require the court to overturn the
results of several contests in that state, which seems
unlikely. In the meantime, the BN reportedly has been
attempting to regain power in Perak by enticing a sufficient
number of PA members of the State Assembly to defect to the
BN side.
KEITH