Three more by-elections may be on the cards

PUTRAJAYA: Three more by-elections may come our way after the Federal Court sent three more election petitions back for trial – the Kimanis and Sipitang parliamentary seats, which are occupied by Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and his nephew Yamani Hafez Musa respectively, and Jasin, which is held by Barisan Nasional MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak David Wong Dak Wah, who chaired a five-man bench, made the ruling on Kimanis and Sipitang after allowing an appeal by Karim Bujang, who is Parti Warisan Sabah’s candidate for Kimanis, to challenge Anifah’s victory.

Justice Wong said the panel held that the appellant (Karim) had complied with the Election Petition Rules 1954 in filing the election petition and ordered Anifah to pay costs of RM50,000 to Karim.

“We allow the appeal and set aside the order of the High Court (Election Court),” he said, setting tomorrow for mention of the case.

On Nov 19, 2018, the Election Court in Kota Kinabalu struck out Karim’s election petition against Anifah, the returning officer and the Election Commission after allowing Anifah’s application to strike out the petition.

Anifah won the Kimanis seat with a 156-vote majority in the three-cornered fight against Karim and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah’s Jaafar Ismail.

Meanwhile, another Federal Court bench ordered the election petition filed by Warisan candidate Noor Hayaty Mustapha to be remitted to the Election Court for trial.

Court of Appeal president Justice Ahmad Maarop set Feb 25 for case management.

Justice Ahmad ordered Yamani, the son of former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, to pay costs of RM50,000.

Yamani won the Sipitang seat under the Barisan Nasional ticket.

For Jasin, the Federal Court returned the election petition filed by Pakatan Harapan candidate Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan to the Election Court for trial.

A five-man bench led by Chief Justice Richard Malanjum allowed Khairuddin’s appeal to remit the case for hearing of the merits before a new Election Court judge.

In October last year, the Election Court dismissed Khairuddin’s petition after allowing a preliminary objection raised by Ahmad Hamzah.

Justice Malanjum set this Friday for mention of the case and ordered Ahmad Hamzah to pay RM20,000 in costs.

Khairuddin lost to Ahmad Hamzah by 219 votes in GE14.

Khairuddin, the former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief, filed the election petition in June last year. — Bernama