Gombak voters sue Azmin for deceit, breach of fiduciary duty

 

Mohamed Azmin Ali, who won the Gombak parliamentary seat on a PKR ticket, is now a minister in Muhyiddin Yassin’s PN government.

KUALA LUMPUR: Ten Gombak voters have filed a suit for deceit and breach of fiduciary duty against their MP, Mohamed Azmin Ali, nine months after the “Sheraton Move” which led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

The plaintiffs want a declaration that the senior minister for economy, as trustee, owes them a fiduciary duty as an elected representative.

In the suit filed by Messrs Yohendra Nadarajan at the High Court last week, the plaintiffs also want a declaration that Azmin committed the tort of deceit against them.

They also want a declaration that Azmin had violated his constitutional oath under Article 59(1) read together with the 6th Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

The plaintiffs are also seeking damages and other orders deemed fit by the court.

In their statement of claim sighted by FMT, the plaintiffs’ bone of contention is that Azmin made a representation that he was standing for election in 2018 to oust the then Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and to free Malaysia of corrupt officials.

They said Azmin caused the collapse of the PH government in February and joined the Perikatan Nasional administration, which included the BN, and persons Azmin himself had acknowledged were “credibly accused of corrupt practices”.

The plaintiffs said Azmin, the former PKR deputy president, had pledged to abide by the PH 2018 election manifesto, to address, among others, the wrongdoings of BN when it was the federal government.

They also said that Azmin announced on his Facebook page on April 27, 2018 that the 14th general election was important so that the people could inherit a leadership that was responsible and accountable.

In one of his campaign rounds, they said Azmin told voters that they should vote for PKR to ensure a competent and stable government.

“He also said that his enemies were those who supported the then prime minister, Najib Razak, Umno and BN. He labelled such supporters as traitors,” they said.

Further, they said, Azmin made representation that he would remain in PKR and PH to ensure that promises in the manifesto would be fulfilled in the event they formed the government.

On Feb 23, there was a change in government where some leaders from BN, PAS, PPBM and PKR, including Azmin, met at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya, which resulted in prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation.

Azmin and several other PKR MPs were among the central figures in the political crisis that culminated in a power grab.

PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin was appointed as prime minister on March 1, and Azmin, who has been appointed a PPBM supreme council member, was later made a minister. - FMT