RM100 million lawsuit looms for betrayal, warns Ahmad Maslan
KHAIRIL ANWAR MOHD AMIN NURUL NABILA AHMAD HALIMY
SHAH ALAM - Barisan Nasional (BN) representatives contemplating betrayal may want to reconsider their actions, as the coalition takes loyalty seriously among its election candidates who participated in the recent 15th General Election (GE15).
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan has revealed that all BN party members, including Umno, were required to sign legally binding documents prepared by BN lawyers before receiving their appointment letters as candidates.
The former Umno secretary-general said all election candidates who agreed to accept the official notice knowingly and willingly were ready to be sued for RM100 million if they violated the contents of the agreement.
"One of the contents is that if they leave the party or are no longer with Umno or BN, the candidate must vacate the seats they are holding. That is in line with the provisions of the Anti-Party Hopping Act the Parliament had approved.
"Secondly, all costs, namely the use of the BN logo and election machinery, campaign expenses, and so on, estimated to be worth RM100 million, needed to be paid back to BN. These terms apply to any Member of Parliament and member of the State Assembly who won the last election.
"That is why I am confident that the Unity Government will remain stable. This is because BN's conditions are much stricter compared to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), with trusts that there is no BN MP who is willing to pay a fine of up to RM100 million solely to betray the party," he told Sinar Premium.
The Pontian MP made these remarks in response to the Kuala Lumpur High Court's ruling granting PKR the right to seek RM10 million in compensation from its former vice-president, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, for breaching the party's signed bond in 2018.
Meanwhile, Ahmad, who is also the Deputy Finance Minister 1, explained that the need for binding documents for BN candidates arose primarily due to 16 Umno MPs defecting to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Warisan (Warisan) after GE14.
The binding documents, already prepared by lawyers, were implemented during the Sabah state election in 2020 and subsequently for the elections in Melaka and Johor.
"After discussions with various parties, the BN and Umno leadership agreed to establish these binding documents, which were not enforced during GE14," he clarified.
As a result, BN representatives stayed on the same parties following the state elections in Sabah, Melaka, and Johor.
"While the Anti-Party Hopping Act was later approved by Parliament, its effectiveness is enhanced when accompanied by internal party measures.
"These binding documents also played a pivotal role in thwarting initial attempts by a few BN MPs to sign a sworn declaration (SD) in support of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Minister before the establishment of the Unity Government," he added.
