UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has filed an election petition to challenge the outcome of the Gua Musang parliamentary seat results in the general election. 

He is alleging that his defeat was due to money politics. 

In the election, Tengku Razaleigh – better known as Ku Li – failed in his bid for a 12th term in the Gua Musang seat. 

He lost to Perikatan Nasional’s Mohd Azizi Abu Naim with a slim majority of 163 votes. The PAS man garnered 21,826 votes, while Tengku Razaleigh got 21,663 votes.

The petition was filed by Mohd Azmi Mahmood on behalf of Tengku Razaliegh on January 3, and named Azizi, returning officer Ab Fattah Hasbullah, and the Election Commission (EC) as respondents. 

The petition, among others, seeks for the results of the Gua Musang parliamentary seat election to be declared invalid, and for the EC to call for by-elections in the constituency, reported Astro Awani. 

“Our client claims money was paid to some voters in return for their ballots, and several boxes of votes from certain voting centres were unaccounted for,” Tengku Razaleigh’s counsel Abu Bakar Isa Ramat was quoted as saying.

The case management for the petition took place yesterday before Kota Baru High Court deputy registrar Nik Habri Muhamad. The next case management has been fixed for January 25. – January 13, 2023.