IT IS FOR EC TO DECLARE SEAT VACANCIES, NOT SPEAKER

, that under section 12(3) of the Elections Act 1958, the EC would have to establish that a vacancy existed before issuing a writ of by-election.

"On a plain reading of Article 36(5) of the Perak Constitution, read together with section 12(3) of the Elections Act, it is the EC that establishes the casual vacancy,"

"Hence, we unanimously rule that the decision of the speaker declaring the three state seats vacant was unlawful and therefore null and void as the decision was contrary to Article 36(5) of the Perak Constitution,"

"Once the casual vacancy is established, then it is the duty of the EC to fill the vacancy by holding a by-election. With the clear provisions of the respective powers of the EC and the speaker, the fear of encroachment into the doctrine of separation of powers by one body into another does not arise,"

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Federal Court judge Tan Sri Nik Hashim Nik Ab Rahman, in his 20-page judgment