A total of 10 residents in Gombak, Selangor have filed a lawsuit against Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali for breaching his fiduciary duty and representations to his constituents
Azmin Ali has been the Gombak Member of Parliament (MP) and Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyperson since 2008.
According to New Straits Times, the 10 Gombak voters filed the suit at the High Court on 27 November and named Azmin as the sole defendant for betraying voters’ trust.
The group was represented by counsel Yohendra Nadarajan and his clients are Affandy Abd Raif Faiz, B Balasuntharam, Fatimah Begum Abu Bakar, Koo Kim Seng, Mazidah Mohd Noor, Md Yusof Ismail, Muhammad Safwan Md Anuar, R Prasath, S Ramaksihnan, and M Subasini.
In a joint statement, the group said Azmin had committed the tort of deceit against them and breached fiduciary obligations when he involved himself in the political manoeuvre, dubbed as the ‘Sheraton Move’, to topple the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
“He (Azmin) was elected an MP and assemblyman based on the representations. His duty as a fiduciary and trustee towards his constituents, which include the plaintiffs, was to ensure that he does not act in a manner inconsistent with the representations,” they said.
“The defendant, at all material of times, had no intention of standing by the representations.”
“It was merely to deceive the plaintiffs and other constituents to support him so that he would be elected to Parliament and have an opportunity to be a member of the government.”
They are also seeking a declaration that Azmin has breached his constitutional oath under Article 59(1) read together with the sixth schedule of the Federal Constitution
Under the constitutional oath, MPs swear to faithfully discharge their duties to the best of their abilities, and to preserve, protect, and defend the Federal Constitution, reported Malay Mail.
They said Azmin should be committed to the PH manifesto as an elected representative of his constituency, instead of teaming up with members from Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS to topple the PH government.
The plaintiffs said Azmin was sacked from PKR, along with 10 other members, for their “open acts of betrayal”.
Image via Malaysia Gazette
Additionally, the group also cited Azmin’s words said during the campaign period of the 14th General Election (GE14), where he claimed UMNO and BN supporters were “traitors”
According to Free Malaysia Today, the plaintiffs referred to one of Azmin’s Facebook posts in April 2018 where he said GE14 was important because people could inherit a leadership that was responsible and accountable.
They said Azmin told voters to vote for PKR to ensure a competent and stable government.
However, they said the defendant had gone against the plaintiffs’ and other Gombak voters’ trust when he left the party he co-founded and joined forces with UMNO and PAS in February.
They said Azmin’s betrayal of voters’ trust had led him to be appointed as the International Trade And Industry (MITI) Minister and “de facto deputy prime minister” in the new government.
The 10 plaintiffs are seeking compensation for the breach and other orders deemed fit by the court.
