KOTA KINABALU: The Election Court here has struck out two election petitions seeking to nullify the results of the Pitas and Karambunai state seats in the 17th Sabah Election, in separate sittings on Friday (March 27).
For the Karambunai petition, PAS’ Datuk Dr Aliakbar Gulasan retained the 11-cornered seat, which was challenged by Warisan candidate Ahmad Jais Otong.
Kuching-based High Court judge Wong Siong Tung, sitting as the election court judge, delivered the decision via Zoom after allowing all preliminary objections raised by the respondents, including Aliakbar.
He said the court found the petition fundamentally defective and therefore could not proceed.
With the striking out of this election petition, Ahmad Jais, who filed the petition on Dec 29, 2025, must pay costs of RM15,000 to the first and second respondents, and a further RM15,000 to the third respondent (Aliakbar).
Ahmad had named the returning officer (RO) for the Karambunai constituency, the Election Commission (EC) and Aliakbar as the first, second and third respondents, respectively.
In raising their preliminary objections to strike out the petition, the respondents argued, among other things, that the petition failed to demonstrate how any non-compliance with election rules and regulations affected the outcome.
Aliakbar, who contested under the Perikatan Nasional ticket, secured 7,054 votes to win with a slim majority of 365 votes, defeating Ahmad, who garnered 6,689 votes.
For the Pitas seat, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) leader Datuk Seri Ruddy Awah remains the assemblyman after Warisan’s Datuk Harun Ismail failed in his bid to challenge the election result.
Judge Wong ordered the petitioner, Harun, to pay RM15,000 in costs to Ruddy and RM15,000 each to the second and third respondents.
Harun, 66, filed the election petition on Dec 23 last year, naming Ruddy, 57, as the first respondent, the returning officer for the Pitas constituency as the second respondent, and the Election Commission as the third respondent.
Ruddy, who is now the state Assistant Works and Utilities Minister, won the six-cornered fight for Pitas with 5,754 votes against Harun’s 4,189 votes, securing a majority of 1,565 ballots.
