By-election not required if crossovers occur
But pre-signed resignation letters valid: Tommy Thomas
The court ruled that the state constitution's provision that a state assemblyperson who ceased to be a member of his or her political party also ceased to be a state assemblyperson was inconsistent with Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution.
By Tommy Thomas, The Nut Graph
I WOULD like to elaborate on the comments I made during the course of my telephone conversations with The Nut Graph senior journalist Deborah Loh which was posted in Hard for PKR duo to contest resignations on 2 Feb 2009.
Two separate matters call for discussion: first, the legal effect of an undated resignation letter signed by a politician and given to his [or her] party leader, and secondly, party hopping.
Signed undated resignation letters
Absent vitiating factors that the law recognises like forgery, fraud, undue influence, duress and illegality, an adult (not a minor or someone suffering from mental incapacity) is deemed to be responsible for handing over to a third party any signed document.
Thus, if Mr A hands a signed blank cheque to Mr B who then uses it to withdraw more monies than Mr A had in mind, Mr A cannot complain because he "armed" Mr B to make use of the signed cheque in any way he wished. Hence the expression "carte blanche" or giving a blank cheque, that is, giving full discretionary powers to another. Similarly, the giving of a credit card to another to use.
