Apex court revokes Anifah’s electoral win, orders fresh by-election for Kimanis
PUTRAJAYA: A by-election will be held for the Kimanis parliamentary seat in Sabah as the Federal Court today revoked the victory of incumbent, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
The seat was won by former foreign minister Anifah in the 14th general election last year by defeating by Parti Warisan Sabah’s candidate Karim Bujang.
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.
“There was no error by the election judge in the finding of facts,” she said.
Maimun added that there were discrepancies in the conduct of the election process and widespread non-compliance of election laws, which had affected the outcome of the polls.
Anifah, won the Kimanis seat by a slender margin of 156 votes, obtaining 11,942 votes while Karim garnered 11,786 votes.
The bench also ordered Anifah to pay RM70,000 in costs to the respondent, Karim.
Also on the bench were Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak David Wong Dak Wah, and Federal Court judges Rohana Yusuf and Nallini Pathmananathan.
On Aug 16, new election judge Lee Heng Chung declared the victory of Anifah, who was a former Umno leader, as null and void.
By Fifi Harteeny Marzuki
