PARTI Warisan Sabah’s (Warisan) Karim Bujang said he always believed in the process of law when he filed a challenge against Anifah Aman’s win in the Kimanis parliamentary seat during the last general election.

He said this was why he had insisted on challenging the Kimanis poll results and waited for one year and three months for the outcome of the petition.

“I believe in the rule of law. If you have evidence of injustice, then you must fight.

“It applies to anybody. If they deprive of your rights than you need to do what you need to do,” he told reporters today.

The Election Court today declared the victory of Kimanis MP Anifah in the May 9 polls last year as null and void after finding irregularities in the polling.

The court held the Election Commission responsible for the problem, and ordered a by-election.

The court, however, cleared Anifah from corruption and bribery charges brought against him by Karim in his petition.

Karim said Warisan supporters in Kimanis had helped him to gather all the evidence and brought up three charges in his election petition.

“There were bribery, corrupt practices and election offences.

“The court decided to drop the bribery and corrupt practice charges against Anifah but has allowed the contravention of law by the EC,” he said.

Karim said his legal team was able to prove that out of 19 voting channels, five could not be accepted for election law violations.

“The irregular ballot boxes were from SK Kg Brunei, SK Cheng Meng, SK Mendahan, SK Bambangan and SK Sinuboh.

“The irregularities comprise missing Form 13 and ballots that cannot be verified,” he said.

When asked whether a by-election is imminent, Karim said it was up to the EC and Anifah to file their appeal in the next two weeks.

He also said he would be leaving it to the party to decide if he should be the candidate again in the event of a by-election.

“Nonetheless, I am prepared to go for another round.

“At this point of time, I will probably go back and inform Warisan voters to remain calm and wait to see if Anifah or the EC will appeal.

“I will nevertheless tell them to be prepared for a fresh poll,” he said.

Former foreign minister Anifah won the seat for Umno by a narrow margin in a three-cornered fight against Karim and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah’s Jaafar Ismail.

Anifah tallied 11,942 votes and Karim, 11,786 votes.

Anifah has since left Umno to stand as an independent MP.

Karim filed the petition to challenge the win, on grounds that there were more votes than the number of registered voters for the seat. – August 16, 2019.