'Gombak 10' civil suit a reaction againt political treachery - Shahrir

 

Former Johor Bahru MP Shahrir Samad has described a civil suit brought by 10 Gombak constituents against their parliamentarian, Azmin Ali, as a reaction against "political treachery".

Taking to Facebook, the Umno veteran said the case caught his interest given the accepted fact that an elected representative, under the Federal Constitution, has a right to be a "political frog".

"Therefore, there are no legal restrictions to prevent elected representatives from hopping to another party. They are protected by the constitution.

"So, although Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's administration was formed by the most number of 'political frogs' in Malaysia's history, the legitimacy of the government is protected by the Federal Constitution," he said.

"The civil suit by a group of Gombak constituents - the 'Gombak 10' - to claim damages over Azmin's breach of fiduciary duty and deceit - is a reaction against their elected representative," he added.

With no way to challenge the act of party hopping, Shahrir noted it would be interesting to observe how the civil suit's outcome can contribute to overall political maturity in Malaysia.

"Our country has no 'recall system' that allows voters to create a petition for re-election when such treachery occurs, like leaving a party (for another).

"So, this civil suit is a very interesting court case. For me, there need to be a way to address political treachery by recognising that an elected representative has a fiduciary duty and should not be allowed to cheat their voters," he said.

As an MP, Shahrir held a record for vacating his Johor Bahru parliamentary seat in 1988 and winning it again in the resulting by-election as an Independent candidate.

Shahrir rejoined Umno a year later in the aftermath of the Malaysian constitutional crisis - sat out three general elections in 1990, 1995 and 1999 - before reclaiming the seat for another three terms until 2018 when he lost to PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasir.

Represented by counsel Yohendra Nadarajan, the Gombak constituents are seeking a total of nine declarations from Azmin as their elected representative, including how he owed 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 Azmin had violated their trust by working with BN in the "Sheraton Move" political coup last year to bring down Pakatan Harapan, despite campaigning and winning the Gombak seat on a PKR/Harapan ticket.

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

Since then, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has offered to be a witness in the civil suit if his testimony is needed in court.

Azmin will reportedly be filing an application to strike out the suit, arguing it has no reasonable cause of action, or alternatively that the suit is scandalous, vexatious and frivolous. - Mkini