Anifah's Kimanis win declared null and void

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Anifah Aman's win in the Kimanis parliamentary seat during the 14th General Election was declared null and void by an Election Court Friday (Aug 16).

The decision is set to see a by-election though Anifah’s lawyers are expected to appeal within 14 days of the ruling by Justice Lee Heng Chee.

Anifah’s lawyer, Ansari Abdullah, said the former foreign minister was cleared by the court for offences over alleged bribery and corruption.

The case was dismissed and Anifah was granted RM105, 000 in costs.

However, Ansari said the election results were declared void after the court found serious discrepancies in the conduct of the election process by the Election Commission.

Among those highlighted were additional ballots found in some of the ballot boxes, which were improperly cast.

In the Kg Brunei polling station, it was found to have 284 additional ballots improperly cast and this has affected the result of the polls.

The Kimanis results were challenged by Parti Warisan Sabah candidate Datuk Karim Bujang, who lost the seat in GE14.

He was represented by Frederick Chang Tyn Chi and Syaiful Sidin.

The Election Commission, who was represented by lawyers Faizal Sarbi and Abdul Fikri Jaafar, has yet indicate if it will appeal.

On June 18, Karim filed an election petition to challenge the election results in which Anifah won with a 156-vote majority after he garnered 11, 942 votes against Karim’s 11, 786 votes.

The Election Court threw out the petition last Oct 16 but the Federal Court then overturned the decision and remitted it back to the court for trial.

Warisan had claimed there were elements of manipulation by the Barisan Nasional camp in the May 9 polls and that the ballot papers were counted at least four times.