KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): Former PKR vice president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said that she signed a RM10 million party bond when she contested under its banner in the 2018 election not on her own volition, but because there was no other alternative.

Testifying in her former party's ongoing lawsuit against her, she also said that she was compelled to sign the party bond because she wanted to continue to serve the people of Malaysia, especially the Ampang constituents.

"I was not given any other choice but to sign the documents prepared by the party. At that material time, I signed the documents under duress without given any other real choices[...],

"I would like to stress that I signed the documents as directed and set by the party unilaterally because I was thinking of the rakyat who were hoping that I would serve them," she said on Thursday (March 30).

PKR secretary general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, on behalf of the party, had filed a RM10 million lawsuit against Zuraida in Sept 2020 over her departure from the party after winning the seat on its ticket.

In the statement of claim, Saifuddin said Zuraida executed a bond where she had bound herself to pay the party a sum of RM10 million based on established terms and conditions of the agreement.

The terms and conditions of the bond include Zuraida agreeing to pay the party RM10 million no later than seven days upon her resignation from PKR, joining any other political party or being an independent elected representative after she won the election on a PKR ticket.

Saifuddin who took the stand on Wednesday, said that Zuraida had signed the party bond voluntarily. He said that at the material time, Zuraida was not only party vice president, but also a member of the party's political bureau, which had agreed on the bond's terms during one of the meetings before the upcoming national polls in 2018.

In her witness statement seen by the press, the former Housing and Local Government minister explained that she was given the documents a day before nomination without any explanation on the terms and conditions, nor was she given copies of the documents at any time.

"Those were really tense moments (saat-saat getir) and I didn't have the opportunity to read or examine the contents of the documents which I signed," she said.

Zuraida said that at the material time she was only told to sign the documents so she could contest under the party banner and thought that there were regular documents.

She said that her main responsibility was to the people, but the terms of the bond were biased and prioritised the party.

"I state that the party's brand, logo and flag were also used by other candidates. So it is unfair if to place the entirety of the cost on me when other candidates have also benefited from the fund,

"[The party's claim] is an unsavory attempt to enrich the party," she said.

She said that she did not receive any monies from the party to spend on the GE14 campaign  and recalled that she only received funding once amounting to RM10,000 for the 2008 elections.

"Besides that, no monies were received from the party and I had to mobilise the energy and time of my supporters to look for campaign funding," she said, adding that the party headquarters had once asked her for a RM40,000 aid as it did not have sufficient funds for party operations.

Zuraida also said that she had contributed to building the party brand through various campaigns and programmes.

In the statement of claim, Saifuddin had also said that on Feb 24, 2020, Zuraida, together with 10 other PKR MPs, announced her resignation from the party without resigning from her elected post of Ampang MP.

He said Zuraida, along with the other MPs from Bersatu, Barisan Nasional, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak and others then formed a new bloc known as Perikatan Nasional.

As for her termination from the party, she said that she was given a show-cause letter from the party revolving around three allegations and had replied to them while hoping that the party's internal issues would be resolved amicably.

She said that she only made the announcement to leave the party which she had served for 21 years following the announcement of her termination.

She also testified that she had lost faith in the party leadership especially once party chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took the reins in 2018 following his release from prison.

She claimed that this was because the value of justice was no longer practised but was taken over by cronyism when he picked family members to helm the party.

She also brought up allegations of sexual assault by Anwar's former aide Yusoff Rawther which she had confronted Anwar about but received no satisfactory anwers. This is a subject matter of a separate lawsuit between Anwar and Yusoff. 

The press were not allowed to cover the proceedings.

William Leong and Navpreet Singh are representing PKR, while Nizamuddin Hamid is appearing for Zuraida.

The two-day trial before High Court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir has concluded with a total of three witnesses taking the stand.

Judge Akhtar has fixed June 23 to deliver his decision. 

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