Arthur cleared but not Anifah, Yamani
Published on: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
PUTRAJAYA: Arthur Joseph Kurup, the son of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) President Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, retains his position as Pensiangan Member of Parliament.
This follows a unanimous decision by a five-man bench of Federal Court five-man Monday to uphold the Election Court’s decision to strike out the election petition brought by PKR’s Pensiangan candidate Raymond Ahuar.
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The bench led by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop dismissed Raymond’s appeal after ruling that it did not have merits.
Presiding with him were Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed, Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Tan Sri Idrus Harun.
Justice Ahmad also ordered Raymond to pay a total of RM40,000 in costs.
The Federal Court also dismissed Raymond’s appeal against the Election Court decision on Sept 20, last year to reject his application for amendment of his election petition to include an allegation of illegal practice of election expenses.
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In the 14th general election in May last year, Arthur, who is the deputy president of PBRS, won by a majority of 2,314 votes in a five-cornered contest. He garnered 11,783 votes to Raymond’s 9,469.
Arthur contested under the Barisan Nasional ticket.
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In June, Raymond filed an election petition alleging that Arthur used money politics but this was dismissed by the Election Court in Kota Kinabalu in November last year.
Raymond was represented by lawyer Datuk Alex Decena while counsel Datuk Lawrence Thien Shin Hing acted for Arthur.
The Federal Court also remitted two election petitions filed by Warisan Sabah candidates for the Kimanis and Sipitang parliamentary seats to the Election Court for trial.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Datuk David Wong Dak Wah who chaired a five-man bench made the ruling after allowing an appeal by Karim Bujang, who is Parti Warisan Sabah’s candidate for the Kimanis parliamentary seat, to challenge the victory of former foreign minister, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Justice Wong said the panel held that the appellant (Karim) had complied with the Election Petition Rules 1954 in filing the election petition and ordered Anifah to pay costs of RM50,000 to Karim.
He also granted the application by lawyer Frederick Chang Tyn Chi, who acted for Karim, for the trial to be heard before a new judge.
On Nov 19, 2018, the Election Court in Kota Kinabalu struck out Karim’s election petition against Anifah, the returning officer and the Election Commission after allowing Anifah’s application to strike out the petition.
Anifah won the Kimanis constituency with a 156-vote majority in the three-cornered fight, securing 11,942 votes against Karim and Parti Harapan’s Jaafar Ismail, who garnered 11,786 votes and 1,300 votes respectively.
Another Federal Court bench ordered the election petition filed by Warisan candidate Noor Hayaty Mustapha to be remitted to the Election Court for trial.
Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop directed the petition to be heard before another Election Court judge and set Feb 25 for case management.
Noor Hayaty’s lawyer, Chung Jiun Dau said the apex court had allowed his client’s appeal to set aside the Election Court’s decision in striking out her election petition.
Justice Ahmad who presided over the appeal with Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed, Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Tan Sri Idrus Harun, ordered Yamani Hafez Musa, the son of former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, to pay costs of RM50,000.
Yamani won the Sipitang parliamentary seat under the Barisan Nasional ticket with a 852-vote majority, defeating his rivals from Parti Warisan Sabah and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah.
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