'It's a futile task to seek to invalidate the Hulu Selangor results. But I think public opinion is more important then a court decision at this juncture.'

Zaid moves to invalidate Hulu S'gor results

Md Imraz Ikhbal: With all due respect, Zaid Ibrahim, you can surely expect your petition to be dismissed on nonsensical grounds lest you forget Australia's animal mascot that the Malaysian courts represent.

Doc: It's a futile task to seek to invalidate the Hulu Selangor results. Most people are aware of Umno's bribery, vote-buying and countless other illegal election tactics. But I think public opinion is more important then a court decision at this juncture. Malaysia is not a democracy with separation of judiciary powers from the state (although Umno claims otherwise), and thus taking this matter to court will not lead to true justice.

As a matter of principle, Zaid has the right to use the appropriate legal means to fight the wrong done against him, his party and the Hulu Selangor people, but at this moment, I think Zaid should concentrate on building PKR, whose public image has be torn to bits in recent weeks to ‘frogging' politicians.

The Saint: Come on, Zaid. Be a man and get over it. You've got to move on and not harp on defeat. Take this defeat as a lesson: big guns don't necessarily win all the time.

Rose Amongst Thorns: This isn't about being a sore loser - it's about principles. Would you allow your sister to go into hiding and not take any action after being raped?

Think about it. Our rights are being raped, our funds are being siphoned off, our morals are getting lower, our law enforcers are turning into terrorists against us. Reading through the comments here, I felt ashamed and thought, ‘Hell, no wonder we are in deep trouble.'

CK: If you lose with an unfair advantage, are you going to keep quiet? In this case you are not only a sore loser, but also a born loser. Let your big bully slap you everyday and you still don't do anything? We need people to fight for justice. You and me cannot do it, but others can.

Please support the fight wherever it is necessary and wherever there is injustice. Even if the court is one-sided, I think Zaid should go ahead with the fight. Miracles can happen, and Zaid will win his case. The case belong also to all Pakatan Rakyat voters in Hulu Selangor.

Frustrated: Sorry, Zaid, the outcome is already known. Any fool down the street will tell you that it is a corrupt practice to entice voters with monetary promises, but the ‘juges' (I am ashamed to call them judges) here will not and cannot understand the arguments, be they in English or Malay, on the law and will dismiss the case since they are beholden to the government and will not want to upset the authorities.

Anyhow, good luck to you. Again and again, I painfully recall the day we abolished the Privy Council, which would have kept justice in Malaysia intact. I wonder whether we can restore this wonderful appellate court, which was given to us free of cost.

Anonymous: As long as Malaysians are religiously reading government propaganda in the mainstream media and being drugged by commercial and sensational (television) programmes, it would be difficult to wake up from this dream until the nation comes to a socio-economic Armageddon.

Realistic: Please concentrate on winning the next general elections. All this (you are doing) is a waste of time and a distraction. How can anyone hope for fairness with such tainted referees? Especially when the referees know no honour, decency or shame?

We are only playing into their dirty hands by giving legitimacy to a rotten system. These crooks forget the day is not far off when the rope will be used against them.

KSN: Good move, Zaid Ibrahim, regardless of the outcome. Let people realise more and more about the Election Commission, the judiciary, the police, etc, that they are working for BN - sorry, I mean Umno - and not for the people and the country as a whole. This trend will continue until BN/Umno perishes.

Keturunan Malaysia: Knowing Zaid, I like to think that he is not only doing it as a matter of principle, he is doing it as a test case. He has nothing to lose, but much to gain from the outcome even if he eventually loses the case.

On the other hand, BN has a lot to lose, whether they win or lose the case. Of course, it wouldn't be hard to guess the eventual outcome at this point.

Lusiapa: Unless this law had been subsequently amended, Sections 32(a) and 32(c) of the Election Offences Act 1954, if I am not mistaken, were successfully invoked in the election petition against the winner of the Kampar parliamentary seat in the 1959 general elections. The victorious Alliance candidate was consequently disqualified and the results declared null and void. A by-election was ordered in which the PPP, then an opposition party, won.

The facts of this 1959 case are somewhat similar to the recent Hulu Selangor ‘buy election' where rampant vote-buying, various shameless acts of corruption and other irregularities, albeit on a far lesser scale, were committed by the winning party. I humbly implore Zaid's legal team to re-visit this celebrated case if my comments are pertinent.

There is one impediment, though. Is the judge hearing the petition courageous enough to interpret the law in its ordinary dictionary meaning like in 1959; or would he acquiesce to his master's voice?

MorningSun: Zaid deed is right. We need to prevent Malaysia from getting worse. Zaid's is an uphill task, but it will prompt the rakyat to be more aware of unlawful and corrupt practices by the ruling Umno-led BN coalition.

The rakyat will discard BN, eventually, for the benefit of Malaysia. When you've lost because of unlawful practices by others and you become quiet, you are a coward and are irresponsible.

Ubi Wan Kenobi: It took my friends in KKB (Kuala Kubu Baru) only five minutes to vote for Zaid Ibrahim. They will happily spend another five minutes voting for Zaid again - or anybody Pakatan puts up as a candidate for the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat.

I salute Zaid's resolve and he's the best person to undertake this legal battle - even though few in Malaysia have any faith left in the post-Mahathir judiciary. Let's focus on the fact in the last two years, we have seen at least two or three instances where a courageous judge did the unthinkable and ruled against the BN.

Kgen: Zaid, don't forget to sue the EC over such corrupt practices like transferring legitimate voters out of their electoral districts without an act of Parliament, and swapping polling stations for 13,000 voters. Somebody must take the EC to task.