PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court today upheld the Election Court ruling nullifying Datuk Seri Anifah Aman’s victory in the Kimanis parliamentary seat in the last General Election, thus paving the way for a by-election in the constituency.

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.

Justice Tengku Maimun said the Election Court judge had not erred in the findings of facts.

She said 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.

The other judges on the bench were Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed; Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri David Wong Dak Wah and Federal Court judges Datuk Rohana Yusuf and Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan.

The Election Court had, on Aug 16 this year, declared null and void Anifah’s win in the Kimanis seat in Sabah in the 14th General Election (GE14).

Parti Warisan Sabah candidate Datuk Karim Bujang filed the petition on June 18 last year to challenge the election result.

Anifah, who is a former foreign minister, had won the seat with a 156-vote majority, securing 11,942 votes against Karim’s 11,786 votes.

Another candidate, Jaafar Ismail of Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah, had obtained 1,300 votes.

Anifah, who won the seat on an Umno ticket, quit the party to become an independent MP. – BERNAMA