Court didn’t say PAS candidates were corrupt, MP tells Puad

 

Kuala Terengganu MP Ahmad Amzad Hashim (left) of PAS said Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi should read the court judgment properly.

PETALING JAYA: Kuala Terengganu MP Ahmad Amzad Hashim of PAS has hit back at Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi for labelling him and former Kemaman MP Che Alias Hamid as being corrupt.

Amzad said the election court did not state that he or Che Alias had given bribes when the court nullified the Perikatan Nasional victories in the Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman parliamentary seats at the general election last November.

He said Puad’s statement was wrong and contradicted the court’s decision. Puad had reportedly said on Wednesday that the court had found the Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman candidates (both from PAS) to be corrupt.

“I ask Puad to read the court’s judgment properly,” he said, according to Sinar Harian.

Amzad, a former deputy minister, also said that the Election Commission decided that he was eligible to contest in the Kuala Terengganu by-election last month based on its interpretation of the election court’s judgment.

No investigation had been initiated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission against him, which he said showed he was not directly connected to any element of corruption.

Puad had urged MACC yesterday to investigate Amzad and Che Alias as the election court had nullified their election victories as being due to bribery.

On Tuesday, the Kuala Terengganu election court nullified the Kemaman election after it found that the payment of i-Belia and i-Siswa aid to voters during the campaign period had constituted bribery.

In June, another election court had annulled Amzad’s victory in Kuala Terengganu on similar grounds.

However, in the subsequent by-election, Amzad secured a substantial victory, polling 68,369 votes for a majority of 47,266 votes against his opponent, a higher majority than the 40,907-vote majority last November. - FMT