Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Opposition party Warisan has filed election petitions to challenge the official results of four constituencies in the recent Sabah election, says party secretary-general Datuk Loretto Padua.
He confirmed that Warisan and its candidates had filed petitions to challenge the official results of the Tanjong Kapor, Pitas, Karambunai and Kunak seats.
Loretto did not disclose details, only saying that petitions were based on election offences related to money politics, among others.
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) incumbent Datuk Chong Chen Bin won Tanjong Kapor, GRS’s incumbent Datuk Rudy Awah won Pitas, while Perikatan Nasional’s Datuk Dr Aliakbar Gulasan from PAS won Karambunai and Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Anil Sandhu won Kunak.
Other petitions challenged the results of Pintasan, won by independent Datuk Fairuz Rendan, and for the Sindumin seat won by Warisan’s Yusri Pungut.
GRS’s losing candidate Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia filed the petition in Pintasan, while for Sindumin, a voter filed a case of electoral irregularities based on a viral video allegedly showing an election officer crumpling a ballot.
Taking a different legal route, an independent candidate for Karanaan, Naomi Francis, has instead filed a judicial review to challenge incumbent Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun’s victory.
Noami, in her suit filed at the Kota Kinabalu High Court is seeking to nullify the Election Commission’s declaration of Masidi as the winner and to order a fresh election.
It is understood that several other losing candidates filed election petitions over the results of the Nov 29 polls. The last day to file a petition was on Dec 27.
However, according to sources, no announcements were made by some of them in view of the formation of the unity government led by GRS under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, following the hung results with no party obtaining a clear 37-seat simple majority.
