KOTA KINABALU – The Federal Court has rejected three election petition appeals against the 15th general election (GE15) results in the Putatan, Tuaran, and Tenom parliamentary constituencies.
The unanimous decisions were made by Federal Court judges Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal, and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.
They dismissed each appeal while imposing costs on the respondents.
The court ordered RM50,000 to be paid by each respondent – Putatan MP Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau, and Tenom MP Riduan Rubin.
In the Putatan case, Awang Husaini Sahari of Pakatan Harapan (PH) lost his election petition’s appeal against Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Shahelmey. Shahelmey won by 124 votes in the four-cornered contest during GE15.
Awang filed an election petition on December 29, 2022, seeking to void Shahelmey’s GE15 victory.
Shahelmey filed a preliminary objection to strike out Awang’s petition on February 13 and this was granted on March 10, 2023.
In the Tuaran case, PBS information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai’s appeal against PH component Upko Madius was also unsuccessful.
Madius had retained the Tuaran seat, and Joniston appealed against the election result.
In the Tenom case, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president, Datuk Peter Anthony, who had his nomination papers rejected by the Tenom returning officer, also failed in his appeal.
Each case had its legal representation, and the decisions were rendered by the Federal Court.
The petitions were filed in mid-January this year. – The Vibes, August 28, 2023
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