PAS keeps Bachok, Jelawat seats

PAS gets to keep its Bachok parliamentary seat and Jelawat state seat following the decision by the Election Court here today to strike out both the petitions filed by the Barisan Nasional (BN). Judge Datuk Zamani Abdul Rahim held that the petitioner had failed to comply with certain regulations of the Election Petition Rules 1954, including in the engagement of counsel and delivery of the petition to the respondent. The judge ordered the petitioner to pay costs of RM30,000 each to the first respondent and RM15,000 each to the second respondent (returning officer) and third respondent (Election Commission) in both petitions. In the 13th general election, BN Bachok candidate Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin lost to PAS' Ahmad Marzuk Shaary by a majority of 201 votes while BN Jelawat candidate Datuk Ilias Husain lost to PAS' Abdul Aziz Kadir by a majority of 102 votes. BN's counsel panel was led by Mohd Ilias Mohd Noor while PAS was represented by Hisham Fauzi. The second and third respondents were represented by a counsel panel led by senior federal counsel Azizan Md. Arshad.