PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court will hear another election petition appeal tomorrow – this time involving the Jasin parliamentary seat filed by Pakatan Harapan candidate Khairuddin Abu Hassan.
The appeal, the last of the election cases, has been listed as among the matters scheduled to be heard before an apex court bench.
Khairuddin, a former Umno leader, lost the contest by a 219-vote margin in a three cornered fight.
Barisan Nasional candidate Ahmad Hamzah, who retained the seat, secured 26,560 votes against Khairuddin’s 26,341. PAS candidate Abd Alim Shapie obtained 8,860 votes
On Oct 12 last year, election judge Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali dismissed Khairuddin’s petition as he had filed it in Kuala Lumpur instead of the Melaka High Court.
Ruzima also said the discrepancy in Form 14 after the votes were cast did not affect the integrity of the election.
He said Ahmad could not be faulted for any of the alleged violations of election laws or rules by others, including Election Commission (EC) staff.
Khairuddin had filed his petition based on alleged discrepancies in Form 14, where some documents did not have the signature of the returning officer and others had the signatures of the candidate’s agents.
On Feb 18, a five-member Federal Court panel chaired by then chief justice Richard Malanjum ordered a retrial after it ruled that Khairuddin could file his petition at any High Court in Malaya.
Malanjum said Khairuddin, who contested as an Amanah candidate, had also furnished sufficient details in his petition.
On June 12, new election judge Abu Bakar Jais said Khairuddin failed to prove that the discrepancies in the election forms raised by him had affected the final election results.
Khairuddin was also ordered to pay a total of RM400,000 in costs to Ahmad, the EC and its returning officer, a penalty said to be the highest imposed on a petitioner.
A total of 45 witnesses testified in the hearings that lasted 24 days. - FMT
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