KOTA KINABALU – PKR’s decision to take legal action against party defectors will depend on whether they have signed the contract bond, said the party’s deputy president Rafizi Ramli.
He said that not all defectors may have signed the contract, including former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali who outright refused to do so.
As a result, the party is seeking legal advice from lawyer William Leong to determine the next course of action.
“We need clarification on how many of the 10 MPs have actually signed the contract and who haven’t,” Rafizi told reporters during the 12th Malaysia Plan Half-Term Review session, here, this afternoon.
“Once we receive the lawyer’s opinion, the party will make a decision on whether the recent high court ruling allows legal action to be taken against those who haven’t signed the contract.”
In a recent high court ruling, former PKR vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin was ordered to pay RM10 million to PKR for breaching her bond after defecting from the party in February 2020.
PKR invoked Section 71 of the Contracts Act 1950 to seek compensation equivalent to the benefits Zuraida received as the Ampang MP and federal minister at that time.
Zuraida was among 10 former PKR MPs, led by Azmin, who defected from the party during the Sheraton Move, including Ranau MP Datuk Jonathan Yassin.
In July 2020, PKR instructed its lawyers to demand RM10 million from 20 MPs and assemblymen who had defected from the party. – The Vibes, June 27, 2023