25. One up for PKR

by Ruben Sario, The Star

KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Rural Development Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup has lost his Pensiangan parliament seat in an election petition case.

The Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) has two weeks to decide if it is going to appeal the Election Court decision. Otherwise a by-election will have to be held.

High Court judge Justice David Wong Dak Wah sitting as Election Court judge ruled that Returning Officer Bubudan OT Majalu had no right to overturn a directive of the Election Commission that PKR candidate Danny Andipai’s nomination papers be accepted after the filing of 10am on the Feb 24 nomination day.

The judge also ruled that the objections against Andipai’s nomination forms were invalid on the grounds that they were not signed and improper forms were used.

Kurup was not in court and his lawyer said he would be consulting his client on whether to appeal.

Lawyer Ansari Abdullah who represented Andipai said that the judgment was “water tight” and saw little grounds for appeal but they were prepared.

Ansari, the Sabah PKR chief, said the the ruling meant “one down, 29 more to go” in referring to the 30 seats required by Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for him to keep his promise of bringing down the Barisan Nasional government on Sept 16, which is also Malaysia Day.