KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on Friday (Oct 2) said it has initiated a lawsuit to demand RM10 million (S$3.3 million) from one of its lawmakers who defected to another party, based on a written pledge that she signed before the 2018 general election.
Other PKR lawmakers who have switched parties would also be sued, PKR treasurer-general Lee Chean Chung was quoted as saying by local media.
The first suit, against Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, was filed on Monday ( Sept 28), but lawyers for PKR have not been able to serve this to her, Mr Lee was quoted as saying by Malay Mail online news.
Malaysia's MPs and state assemblymen are generally allowed to switch political allegiances and parties as there are no anti-hopping laws.
But PKR's Mr Lee said the party made its election candidates sign a pledge ahead of the 2018 general election to discourage them from leaving the party for rivals.
The document held that candidates contesting under the PKR name had acknowledged that doing so would come at a "substantial" cost to the party, he said.
"She (Zuraida) further acknowledged that the party in granting her use of the party logo and marks has provided her substantial value, which exceeds RM10 million.
"Hajah Zuraida Binti Kamaruddin agreed to pay to the party the sum of RM10 million in the event she resigns from the party or joins any other political party or be an independent," Mr Lee said in a statement, as quoted by Malay Mail.
Madam Zuraida was chief of PKR's women's wing when she quit the party seven months ago, along with then PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and 10 other party MPs.
The end-February defections by the 12 MPs, and other defections of lawmakers from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), caused the Pakatan Harapan government led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to collapse.
The ex-PKR MPs have all joined Bersatu, which is led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Mr Lee said PKR will commence similar suits against 20 MPs and state assemblymen who had defected to Perikatan Nasional, Malaysia's ruling coalition led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin, Malaysiakini reported.
Responding to news of the lawsuit, Madam Zuraida said she was not surprised that PKR was filing "such an absurd claim" in court, FreeMalaysiaToday (FMT) online news reported her as saying in a statement.
"I left PKR because it no longer focused on the welfare of the people, but on the prime ministerial ambitions of one man," she said, in an obvious reference to PKR's president Anwar Ibrahim. "To have stayed on in such a thoughtless party would have been against my conscience. As for this utterly frivolous suit against me, bring it on!" FMT quoted the statement as saying.
