Kimanis by-election set for Jan 18, 2020

PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission has announced that the Kimanis by-election will be held on Saturday, Jan 18.

Its chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun (pic) also said the commission had set Jan 4 as the nomination day and added that early voting will be held on Jan 14.

This means that the campaigning period is set for 14 days.

A total of 29,664 voters will be eligible to vote in the by-election, of which only nine are early voters and one absent voter.

The Kimanis parliamentary seat was declared vacant after the Federal Court, on Dec 2 upheld the Election Court's ruling, nullifying Datuk Seri Anifah Aman’s victory in the 14th general election.

A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat unanimously dismissed Anifah's appeal to set aside the Election Court ruling.

The Federal Court found discrepancies in the conduct of the election process and widespread non-compliance of election laws, which had affected the outcome of the polls.

On Aug 16, the Election Court had declared null and void Anifah's win in the seat after Parti Warisan Sabah candidate Datuk Karim Bujang filed the petition on June 18 last year to challenge the election result.

Anifah had held Kimanis for four terms and had won by a razor-thin 156-vote majority in a three-cornered fight by securing 11,942 votes against Karim’s 11,768 votes, while Jaafar Ismail of the now-defunct Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah garnered 1,300 votes.