Gombak voters sue Azmin over Sheraton Move

 

Ten Gombak constituents are suing their MP Azmin Ali and accusing him of breaching promises made to voters during the 14th general election (GE14).

Represented by counsel Yohendra Nadarajan, they are seeking a total of nine declarations from him, including how their elected representative owes them a fiduciary duty and had breached that duty.

A fiduciary duty typically refers to a relationship between a trustee and the beneficiary.

They contended that Azmin had violated their trust by working with BN in the “Sheraton Move” political coup to cause the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government despite campaigning and winning his seat on a PKR/Harapan ticket.

“The plaintiffs aver that the defendant had committed a breach of trust or a breach of his constitutional or fiduciary obligations owed to the plaintiffs and/or committed deceit in making representations that he was standing for election on a platform to oust the then ruling BN coalition and ridding Malaysia of corrupt public officials,” read their statement of claim.

They asserted that Azmin had further violated his duty by “causing his own expulsion from PKR” and joining the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

“(And he) finally joined PN, which includes members of the BN coalition which at the material time included persons who the defendant himself had acknowledged were credibly accused of corrupt practices,” they alleged.

Azmin is now a Bersatu member and the minister for international trade and industry.

The plaintiffs are also seeking declarations that their MP had allegedly “committed the tort of deceit” against them and violated the oath he swore before the Federal Constitution.

They argued that they had voted in GE14 in reference to the representations made by Azmin during the election campaign.

“By breaching the representations, the defendant has breached the plaintiffs’ constitutional right and... in particular, the principles of a parliamentary democracy and a representative democracy, which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution,” they asserted.

The 10 are further seeking compensation, interest and costs as well as any other orders against him that the court deems fit.

Filed through the electronic court filing system on Nov 27, the statement stipulates that Azmin has 14 days to respond.

Malaysiakini is contacting Azmin for his comments on the case. - Mkini