KUCHING, March 17 — High Court Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol today ruled that Roy Angau Gingkoi was duly elected as Lubok Antu Member of Parliament in the 15th general election.

He made the ruling after striking out a petition filed by defeated candidate Johnical Rayong Ngipa who wanted Angau's election to be declared null and void on several grounds, including bribery and non-compliance of the election laws.

The judge said the petitioner failed to establish the allegations against Angau, the Returning Officer and the Election Commission.

He then ordered Rayong to pay RM10,000 to Angau and another RM10,000 to the Returning Officer and the Election Commission.

Rayong, in his petition, had named Angau as first respondent, the Returning Officer as second respondent and Election Commission as third respondent.

Speaking to reporters later, Rayong said he is very sad with the court's decision.

“To me, this is not the end of the world. I have to work very hard from now on in preparation for the 16th general election,” said the Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) State Assemblyman for Engkilili.

PSB president Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh, who accompanied Rayong to the court, said the petition to change the result is an uphill task.

“We respect the court's decision, but it is a good lesson for us to learn that we better train our polling agents to do what is to be done and what not to be done in the next election,” he said.

He said PSB will train its polling agents to be always on guard in the next election.

Wong said PSB will closely monitor for any malpractices on the part of Gabungan Parti Sarawak in future election.

In his petition, Rayong cited three main reasons to declare Angau's election as null and void.

Among them is the existence of general corruption or intimidation that affects the election result according to Section 32(a) of the Electoral Offences Act 1954.

The occurrence of non-compliance with the provisions of any written law relating to the conduct of any election thus affecting the election results per Section 32 (b) of the same act.

The existence of corrupt practices related to the election by the candidate with his knowledge and consent or by any agent of the candidate according to Section 32(c) of the same act.

In the petition, Angau was represented by Sim Hui Chuang and Lim Lip Sze while the Returning Officer and the EC were represented by Senior Federal Counsel Mohammad Al-Saifi Hashim,

Raja Shahril Anuar, Saravanan Kuppusamy, Nor 'Aqilah Abdul Halim and Nur Syazwani Binti Abdul Aziz.

Rayong was represented by Clement Wong.

In the November 19, 2022 general election, Rayong polled 6,544 votes against 6,644 obtained by Angau in a four-cornered fight.

The other two candidates were Jugah Muyang of Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu who got 5,360 votes and Langga Lias (Pakatan Harapan-PKR) who obtained 746 votes.