Hunt down all PKR 'traitors'

SHAH ALAM - The PKR central leadership council (MPP) members have suggested that the party leadership should take legal action against the ‘traitors’ who have jumped party in the 14th General Election (GE14).

Its communications director Lee Chean Chung suggested that RM10 million (in a lawsuit) was an appropriate amount that should be paid by the candidates who had broken the promises and mandate given to them by the party.

“I recommend the party to take this (legal) action not only against former PKR vice-president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, but all the party’s traitors.

“I support the court’s judgement that a RM10 million was not an excessive amount but a reasonable one to prevent party members especially candidates that have been chosen from going against the party’s interests during the election,” he told Sinar Premium.

On Friday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered Zuraida to pay RM10 million in damages for breaching a bond binding her to the party when she became the party’s candidate GE14.

In 2020, PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail sued Zuraida for breaking the bond by leaving the party after winning a seat in GE14 in 2018 under the party ticket.

Lee who is also Petaling Jaya MP said Zuraida’s case was a victory not only for PKR but for the whole community who hoped for the people’s representatives to keep their promises and their stance and position.

“This is a very encouraging case. This case can also be a benchmark for suing other politicians who do not think about the consequences and risks of party-hopping.

“The power given to the people’s representatives should be exercised diligently and party hopping should not to be normalised. The implications of party hopping are big enough to bring down the government,” he said.

He added that the legal action also led to the drafting of the anti-party hopping law to make the country more stable.

“At the same time, politicians will be more responsible in their manifestos,” he said.

Meanwhile, All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) chairman Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said that the court’s decision could be an indication that jumping parties was an offence.