BN wins election petition for Klias state seat

The election court in Kota Kinabalu today allowed the first GE13 election petiton, paving the way for a by-election in the Sabah state seat of Klias.

The decision will almost certainly invite protests from Pakatan Rakyat whose election petitions so far have been dismissed with high costs.

This the first successful challenge among 69 petitions filed by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat and the Barisan Nasional (BN) following the May 5 general election.

The Klias seat was won by Sabah opposition chief Datuk Lajim Ukin with a 342-vote majority.

The petition was filed by BN's Isnin Aliasnih, who garnered 6,182 votes against Lajim's 6,324.

Judge Yew Jen Kie, however, dismissed Lajim's petition challenging the result of the Beaufort parliamentary seat, which he lost to Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun of BN.

Yew also struck out Isnin's petition against the returning officer (RO) and Election Commission (EC) and ordered him to pay RM10,000 each in costs.

The judge said Isnin did not plead how the actions of the RO and EC had affected the outcome of the Klias seat.

Lajim could appeal to the Federal Court against both decisions.

In the election for the Sabah legislative assembly, the BN won 48 seats while the Opposition won 12.