Pakatan wants Parliament’s note to King amended

Remarks about the King's urging for all to accept the GE results in a note of thanks to the ruler will render election petitions meaningless, says Anwar.

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat intends to have all remarks related to accepting the general election 2013 results removed from the parliament’s note of thanks to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said it was unsuitable for that portion to be included in the note to the King, as both Barisan Nasional and the opposition pact had filed election petitions challenging the May 5 results. Pakatan has also claimed that the election was rife with electoral fraud.

“We express our gratitude to his royal decree…(but) election petitions have been filed so we are considering proposing an amendment because we feel it is inappropriate to include the endorsement of the election results (in the note).

“Petitions have been filed by both BN and PR (and) if we give our endorsement to (the note) then the petitions will mean nothing.

“So we will propose a motion to remove the validation of the election results,” the PKR de facto leader told reporters in his Parliament office here.

He said a committee comprising members from all three parties in the opposition pact would look into the issue and submit a suggested amendment, possibly by tomorrow.

The King, in his Royal Address to the parliament on June 24, had urged all parties to accept the general election results that saw BN winning a simple majority.

He said all parties should respect the results as the election was conducted based on the tenets of democracy.

The King’s call came in the wake of election petitions filed from both sides of the political divide, as well as Pakatan’s nationwide protests against alleged electoral fraud and irregularities.

Anwar had previously said the King’s speech was a mere “recommendation” from the Prime Minister Office, and was up for debate by his colleagues.