The Federal Court today ruled that Umno Wanita chief Rafidah Aziz was rightfully elected as the Kuala Kangsar member of parliament despite her not fulfilling certain nomination requirements.

The three-member panel led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum upheld the Ipoh Election Court decision and ruled that signing only one copy of the nomination papers - instead of three - was sufficient.

rafidah aziz pc on permatang pauh by election 010808 03 The apex court held that the sole signature had similarly denoted Rafidah's intention to contest.

The other two members of the panel of the Federal Court were justices S Augustine Paul and Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin.

The judgment was delivered by Zulkefli this morning.

The election petition was filed by voter Ahmad Jamaluddin Abd Majid who had named the former international trade and industry minister, returning officer Mohd Ghazali Jalal and the Election Commission as respondents.

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.

Election court: It's a silly mistake

On July 4, Ipoh Election Court jdge Justice 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.

"Her presence at the nomination centre to submit her papers was enough to prove her consent to accept the nomination to contest," the judge had said.

Since signing and submitting nomination papers were merely part of an electoral process, Zakaria said Rafidah's mistake was unsubstantial for the election officer to neither reject her candidacy nor stop the election process.

Moreover, the petitioner did not mention any other wrongdoings like corrupt practices in his affidavit, other than on the ‘missing signature', he added.

He said non-compliance to the requirement to sign all three nomination papers would not have affected the election results anyway, stressing that "it was a mere technical error.'

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

Kubu Gajah decision upheld too

The Federal Court also upheld an Election Court decision in dismissing with cost a separate election petition challenging the results of Kubu Gajah state constituency, under the Larut parliamentary constituency, on ground of technicality.

Filed by defeated PAS candidate Mohd Nazri Din, the petition sought a court order to declare the Kubu Gajah election results as null and void, claiming corruption and malpractices by the winning BN candidate Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar.

Mohd Nazri had claimed that Raja Ahmad, who won the seat by 66 votes, had made election promises of ‘you give your vote to BN ... BN will give you anything you want' ( undi kasi BN menang, apa apa you minta BN boleh kasi ) in several instances to voters of Kubu Gajah.

Raja Ahmad was also claimed to have handed out packets of rice to the voters.

The Election Court however said the petition was flawed because "the petitioner failed to show proof in his affidavit that the named residents were registered voters of the constituency."

The Kubu Gajah decision was written by justice Augustine and read out this morning by the deputy registrar.