Kimanis parliamentary by-election on Jan 18

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 16 -- The Election Commission (EC) has set the Kimanis parliamentary by-election in Sabah on Jan 18.

EC chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said today that the nomination of candidates would be on Jan 4 and early voting on Jan 14.

The by-election was called following the Federal Court’s recent ruling in affirming the Kota Kinabalu Election Court’s decision to annul the victory of Datuk Seri Anifah Aman in the Kimanis seat during the 14th general election (GE14) in May last year.

The Election Court had on Aug 16 this year declared Anifah’s win in Kimanis in GE14 as null and void after finding that there were additional ballot papers which could have affected the results of the election.

In GE14, Anifah, a former foreign minister who contested on the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket, won by a 156-vote majority when he polled 11,942 votes. Anifah announced his resignation from Umno, a BN component, in September 2018. 

It was a three-cornered fight involving Anifah, Parti Warisan Sabah’s Datuk Karim Bujang, who garnered 11,786 votes, and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah’s Jaafar Ismail, who obtained 1,300 votes.

On June 18, 2018, Karim filed a petition to challenge Anifah’s victory.

Azhar Azizan said the electoral rolls as at the third quarter of 2019, which were updated on Dec 9, 2019, would be used for the Kimanis by-election.

The electoral rolls contain 29,664 voters, comprising 29,654 regular voters, nine early voters and one voter who is away overseas, he told a press conference here.

Azhar Azizan said the Dewan Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Mohd Dun Banir, Beaufort would serve as the nomination and vote-tallying centres.

He said Beaufort district officer Jupari@Jupry Etok has been appointed the returning officer and he will be assisted by five assistant returning officers.

He said 653 workers had been appointed to conduct the by-election process, and 20 polling centres with 69 streams would be set up for the polls.

"This by-election is estimated to involve an allocation of RM3.6 million,” he said.

Azhar Azizan said the campaign period is 14 days, beginning from the announcement of the names of candidates until 11.59pm on Jan 17.

EC had formed four By-election Campaign Enforcement Teams (PP-KPR) to monitor all campaign activities during that period, he said.

PP-KPR members would comprise representatives of the police, local authorities and the candidates, he said.

The Kimanis poll is the 10th by-election to be held since Pakatan Harapan won GE14 on May 9, 2018.

The last by-election was held in Tanjung Piai, Johor last month.

-- BERNAMA