KOTA KINABALU: The High Court here set next month to hear the election petition cases for the Kimanis and Sipitang parliamentary seats.
Court deputy registrar Cindy Mc Juce Balitus fixed March 1 for case management for the Kimanis parliamentary seat petition.
Judge Datuk Lee Heng Cheong will hear the proceeding.
On Nov 19 last year, the Election Court here struck out Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) candidate Datuk Karim Bujang’s election petition against Kimanis MP Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, the Election Commission (EC) and the EC returning officer after allowing Anifah’s application to strike out the petition.
The Federal Court in Putrajaya had, on Monday, remitted two election petitions filed by Warisan candidates for the Kimanis and Sipitang parliamentary seats to the Election Court for trial.
In the last general election (GE14), Anifah won the Kimanis constituency with a 156-vote majority in a three-cornered fight, securing 11,942 votes against Karim and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah’s Jaafar Ismail, who garnered 11,786 votes and 1,300 votes respectively.
Anifah is represented by counsels Wilson Chang Khai Sim and Rizwandean M Borhanm while Karim is represented by Syaiful Sufeyyan Sidin.
The EC was represented by counsels Faizal Sarbi and Abdul Fikri Jaafar.
In another High Court, judicial commissioner Ismail Ibrahim also fixed March 1 for the mention of the Sipitang parliamentary seat election petition.
The proceeding will be heard by Judge Azhahari Kamal Ramli.
On Oct 15, 2018, the Election Court here struck out a petition filed by Warisan candidate Noor Hayaty Mustapha to nullify the GE14 results of the Sipitang parliamentary seat won by Yamani Hafez Musa, who is the son of former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.
The Putrajaya Federal Court, on Monday, also ordered the election petition filed by Noor Hayaty to be remitted to the Election Court for trial.
In today’s court proceeding, Yamani, who is also Anifah’s nephew, was represented by counsels Rizwandean and Azhier Farhan Arisin.
The EC was represented by counsel Faizal Sarbi, while Noor Hayaty’s lawyer was not present.
In the GE14, Yamani won the Sipitang parliamentary seat under the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket with a 852-vote majority, defeating his rivals from Warisan and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah.