Court allows re-opening of ballot boxes for Kimanis election petition

By Olivia Miwil - March 8, 2019 @ 6:40pm

Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) candidate Datuk Karim Bujang’s (right)counsel Syaiful Sidin (left) said the process could start once the Election Commission (EC) had been informed. (NSTP/MALAI ROSMAH TUAH)

KOTA KINABALU: The High Court has granted permission to recheck the ballot papers for the Kimanis election petition.

Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) candidate Datuk Karim Bujang’s counsel Syaiful Sidin said the process could start once the Election Commission (EC) had been informed.

“The instruction of the court is for our agents to see and open the ballot boxes in front of the court staff.

“We have no objections to Datuk Seri Anifah Aman’s (Kimanis member of parliament) team being present, but we will leave the matter to the court,” he said at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex, here, today.

Anifah was represented by counsels Ansari Abdullah and Rizwandean M Borhan.

The permission to re-open the ballot boxes was granted by Judge Datuk Lee Heng Cheong via tele-conference at the courtroom.

Syaiful said the judge had fixed April 1 for Anifah’s lawyers to file any application to get better particulars from Karim’s legal team.

“If there is anything we hear from the opening of ballot boxes, we can only present it during the trial that begins on April 8,” he said.

Six dates have been blocked for the trial from April 8 to July 12.

On Nov 19, last year, the Election Court here struck out Karim’s election petition against Anifah, EC and EC returning officer.

Last month, the Federal Court in Putrajaya remitted the election petition filed by the Warisan candidate.

In the last general election (GE14), Anifah won the Kimanis seat 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.