Kuala Kangsar Election Petition Dismissed

The Ipoh High Court today dismissed an election petition that challenged the victory of former minister Rafidah Aziz in the Kuala Kangsar parliamentary constituency.

MCPX

Election Judge Zakaria Sam ruled that Rafidah's "silly mistake" in failing to sign two out of three sets of her nomination papers in the March 8 general election was not a proper reason to nullify the final outcome.

He added that the election for the seat proceeded freely, fairly and without any corrupt practices.

"It was a silly mistake by the candidate (Rafidah) but it was not an obstacle or hindrance for having the election," said Zakaria.

However, he refused to grant costs to Rafidah, saying that her silly mistake had resulted in the petition being filed and brought up to court for hearing.

The petition was filed by voter Ahmad Jamaluddin Abd Majid who had named Rafidah, returning officer Mohd Ghazali Jalal and the Election Commission as respondents respectively in the petition filed by businessman.

Rafidah had contested against Perak PAS deputy commissioner Dr Khairuddin Abd Malik for the seat.

In the election, Rafidah retained her seat by polling 10,735 votes. Khairuddin got 9,277 votes.