KOTA KINABALU: Pintasan assemblyman Datuk Fairuz Renddan will keep his seat after the Election Court dismissed and struck out a petition by former Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia on Friday (March 13).
On Dec 22 last year, the 70-year-old Pandikar filed the petition challenging the results of the Nov 29 election for Pintasan.
Kuching-based High Court judge Justice Datuk Faridz Gohim Abdullah made the decision after granting a preliminary objection by Fairuz and ordered Pandikar to pay RM10,000 in costs to the assemblyman.
The judge said the court found that, due to various occasions of non-compliance with the strict mandatory election rules and the statutory provisions of the Election Offences Act 1954, the petitioner could not invoke the jurisdiction of the Election Court and therefore, the petition could not be sustained.
When filing the petition, Pandikar named Fairuz as the first respondent, the returning officer for the Pintasan constituency as the second respondent, and the Election Commission as the third respondent.
He alleged breaches of the Act and sought a court declaration that the Nov 29 election was void, and for him to be declared the rightful winner.
It was previously reported that Pandikar was relying on the testimony of a 23-year-old woman voter who was at a political party camp in Pintasan on Nov 23, claiming she saw Fairuz approach another woman and hand her an envelope containing RM100.
The voter also recorded a video of the alleged act on her mobile phone and lodged a police report on Dec 2 at the Kota Belud police station after the woman who received the envelope lodged a similar report.
Pandikar claimed that this amounted to bribery.
The United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) president contested the Pintasan seat on a Gabungan Rakyat Sabah ticket, receiving 3,605 votes; while Independent candidate Fairuz won the 11-way contest with 4,675 votes.
Fairuz filed his preliminary objection to strike out the petition on Jan 29.
On Feb 23, Pandikar chose not to proceed against the second and third respondents in his petition.
Expressing his gratitude after the court proceedings, Fairuz said that the ruling would allow him to continue focusing on his duties as the Pintasan assemblyman and Sabah Assistant Local Government and Housing Minister.
