PUTRAJAYA, June 23 — PKR vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said that today's High Court ruling against former Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin is a “good decision” and asked her to pay up the RM10 million the court had ordered her to.
“About that, we will ask her to pay up,” he said in response to a question from a reporter about the matter at a press conference held at the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry in Putrajaya this evening.
“I think it’s a good decision,” he added, saying that the anti-party hopping law was passed after Zuraida broke her bond by leaving PKR after winning a seat in the 2018 general election under the party ticket.
Earlier today, Justice Datuk Akhtar Tahir found that the bond she had signed with PKR was a valid and binding contract.
PKR sued her in 2020, with the argument that the bond was valid according to Section 71 of the Contracts Act.
The party sought reimbursement for the advantages Zuraida gained as Ampang MP, as well as the benefits she received during her previous term as a housing and local government minister.
During the trial, Zuraida contended that the conditions of the bond violated her constitutional right to associate freely.
She officially left PKR on February 24, 2020, without resigning from her elected post of Ampang MP. She served as Ampang MP for 15 years, from 2008 to 2022.
She quit PKR then to join Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), before settling for Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) earlier this year.
At the time Zuraida left PKR, 10 other MPs also left along with her including former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Indera Mahkota MP Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah and former Bandar Tun Razak MP Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar. They were aligned with a faction known as Gagasan Sejahtera, which later formed Bersatu.
The anti-party hopping law in Malaysia only took effect on October 5, 2022, and it was intended to prevent MPs from switching political parties without facing consequences. Under the law, MPs who defect from their parties will be disqualified from Parliament for the remainder of their term.
