PUTRAJAYA - Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Jidin retains his position as Putrajaya member of parliament after the Federal Court here today rejected the appeal filed by Putrajaya Umno vice-chief Datuk Ahmad Faisal Abdul Karim to challenge the Bersatu vice-president's victory in the 15th General Election (GE15).
A three-member panel led by the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Tan Sri Abdul Rajman Sebli, unanimously rejected the application as the petition filed by Faisal didn't have sufficient details to allow the case to be brought back to the High Court for a full hearing.
The other two judges were Federal Court judges Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim and Datuk Nordin Hassan.
The court also ruled that the matter had no merit and ordered Faisal, as the applicant, to pay RM30,000 to Radzi, as the respondent.
On March 10, the Kuala Lumpur High Court approved Radzi's initial objection to cancel the petition, maintaining his position as a member of parliament.
The High Court found that Faisal failed to prove the former deputy economy minister's or his officers' involvement in corruption.
Previously, Faisal, as a voter, had filed a petition to revoke Radzi's victory in Putrajaya in the last GE15.
He claimed that Radzi gave a RM150 bribe to registered voters in the area.
Faisal, 50, filed the petition on Jan 26 through Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak naming Mohd Radzi, 46, as the sole respondent.
In the petition, the Umno leader also claimed that the details of the bribe were stored in a WhatsApp chat dated Nov 21, Dec 21, 2022 and Jan 4, 2022.
Faisal said the corruption committed by the respondent and his officers contributed to the PN candidate's victory, defeating BN candidate Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.
Tengku Adnan's record of holding Putrajaya parliament for four consecutive terms since 2004 was broken by the former Education Minister in the last general election after the Bersatu leader managed to garner 16,002 votes, defeating the BN candidate with a majority of 2,310 votes.
Tengku Adnan, better known as Ku Nan, obtained 13,692 votes, while PH candidate Dr Noraishah Mydin Abdul Aziz received 5,988 votes and Pejuang candidate Datuk Mohd Rosli Ramli received 878 votes.