PKR's Permatang candidate not part of 'court cluster': Fahmi

PKR’s Permatang candidate is not part of the ‘court cluster’, said PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil over the party’s decision to field Mohd Yahya Mat Sahri who is a former convict.

Yahya (above), who was former Selangor menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim’s special officer, was jailed for two years in 2016 for cheating businessperson Abdul Karim Munisar over a RM50,000 donation to sponsor an event.

Fahmi explained that those in the ‘court cluster’ were politicians with ongoing cases involving incitement or corruption.

“To me, that (Yahya’s case) is settled,” he said when asked to comment on Yahya’s candidacy to contest Permatang.

RM10m bond

Meanwhile, Fahmi said that all PKR candidates have been ordered to sign a bond amounting to RM10 million.

“This is if they resign from their seats or defect to a different party.

“We have seen the court order towards (former PKR vice-president) Zuraida Kamaruddin, which proves that this is a viable method,” he told reporters at UiTM Shah Alam today.

In June, the civil court ordered the former Ampang MP to pay RM10 million to the ruling party for defecting after clinching the Ampang seat for the third time in the 14th general election.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed PKR’s RM10 million bond lawsuit against the former minister, who lost the parliamentary seat to her former party colleague Rodziah Ismail during GE15 last year.

Zuraida, along with 11 other MPs led by former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, left the party in February 2020 to support Bersatu, Umno-BN and GPS in forming Perikatan Nasional.

This formed part of the Sheraton Move that led to the downfall of the then-Pakatan Harapan administration.

Zuraida left Bersatu in May last year to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) but was then sacked from the latter in December. She is now the deputy president of NGO Muafakat Nasional.

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