Ahmad (second left) leaving a courtroom. — Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah of Barisan Nasional (BN) retains his position as Jasin Member of Parliament as the Federal Court dismissed an appeal brought by Pakatan Harapan candidate for the seat in the 14th general election (GE14), Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan to challenge BN’s victory.
A five-man bench led by Chief Justice Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat unanimously dismissed Khairuddin’s appeal against the Election Court decision on June 12 this year.
“While we agree that there were some instances of non-compliance, the appellant has failed to prove that such non-compliance has affected the outcome of the election. This appeal accordingly dismissed with costs,” she said yesterday.
Other judges on the bench were Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed and Federal Court judges Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Datuk P Nallini and Datuk Vernon Ong Lam Kiat.
Tengku Maimun ordered Khairuddin to pay costs of RM30,000 to Ahmad as the first respondent and a total of RM50,000 to both Jasin parliamentary seat returning officer Zamrud Yahya and the Election Commission (EC).
When met by reporters after the proceedings, Khairuddin said he would continue to provide best services to voters in Jasin constituency, regardless of today’s court decision.
Ahmad, clad in a black and white shirt was also present today.
The Election Court had on June 12 this year, dismissed Khairuddin’s petition to declare null and void last year’s election results for the Jasin Parliamentary constituency after finding that Khairuddin had failed to prove that the element of non-compliance under the Election Offences Act 1954 had affected the result of the election.
In the GE14, Khairuddin lost to Ahmad by a 219-vote majority in a three-cornered fight. Ahmad obtained 26,560 votes while Khairuddin had 26,341 votes and PAS candidate Abd Alim Shapie received 8,860 votes.
Khairuddin filed the petition in June last year seeking the court to declare the GE14 results null and void for that constituency and to order a fresh election to be held, alleging that the BN candidate was not elected legally.
Khairuddin was represented by lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, Ahmad was represented by lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun and lawyer Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin appeared for Zamrud and the EC. — Bernama