KOTA KINABALU: The Election Court has struck out the election petition by Parti KDM president Datuk Peter Anthony to nullify the results of the Tenom parliamentary seat in GE15.
On Wednesday (March 15), Election judge Justice Dean Wayne Daly allowed the notice of application by the first respondent, victorious Independent candidate Riduan Rubin Balang, as well as preliminary objections raised by returning officer for Tenom, Mas Syazwan Masood; Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Ghani Salleh; and the EC (the second, third and fourth respondents) to strike out the petition.
Justice Daly awarded RM20,000 in costs to Reduan and RM20,000 to the second, third and fourth respondents.
The decision allows Reduan to keep the seat he won with a 1,108-vote majority in the five-cornered contest.
In delivering his judgment, the judge found that Peter failed to provide sufficient facts and particulars to support his allegations that there was a breach of election law when his nomination papers were rejected.
Justice Daly said Peter's petition was not in compliance with Rule 4(1)(b) of the Election Petition Rules read with Section 32(b) of the Election Offences Act 1954.
He also ruled that Peter was convicted of a crime under Article 48(1)(e) at the time of nomination and was therefore disqualified under Article 48(5) of the Federal Constitution from contesting in GE15.
Peter's counsel Datuk Ansari Abdullah had earlier argued that his client had obtained a stay of conviction from the Sessions Court and as such Article 48(5) would not apply to him.
However, Tengku Datuk Fuad Ahmad, who acted for Reduan, argued that Article 48(5) applies immediately upon conviction and that a person remains disqualified until and unless the conviction is overturned on appeal.
Fuad argued that Article 48(5) is concerned with the existence of a conviction.
"As long as a person remains convicted, he or she is disqualified from contesting in an election. It is irrelevant that there has been a stay of execution because it only suspends the effects of the conviction and does not cause the conviction to disappear," Fuad said.
Senior Federal Counsel Donald Joseph Franklin, who was acting for the returning officer and EC, also argued that the Indian Supreme Court cases cited by Peter's advocate were irrelevant because they were based on the Indian Constitution which does not contain any provisions identical or similar to Article 48(5) of the Federal Constitution.
Ansari said they will appealing against the decision of the Election Court.
After Peter's nomination papers were rejected, Reduan joined his party, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) in the run-up to GE15. However, he remains an independent in Parliament after winning the seat.
Peter had obtained a stay order from the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on his conviction in a corruption case on Aug 1 so he could contest in GE15 on Nov 19.
In May, the court had sentenced him to three years' jail and a RM50,000 fine for a corruption offence.
On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court set April 18 for its decision in Peter's appeal against the conviction.
