FORMER de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has mooted the idea that the RM100 mil lawsuit meted on Rembia state assemblyman Datuk Muhammad Jailani Khamis by UMNO for defecting to PAS could be invalid as it was intended to inculcate fear in elected representatives to remain obedient “to the party president’s wishes forever”.

Describing the agreement inked between UMNO MPs/state assemblymen and their president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi before the 15^th General Election (GE15) as “bizarre”, the somehow opposition-slant UMNO member insisted that agreement’s validity is questionable and should be tested in court.

“The massive amount of RM100 mil was stipulated not as a measure of the loss due to the breach but to put fear in the elected representatives so that they would follow the President’s wishes forever,” he tweeted on the X platform.

“UMNO representatives should immediately petition the court to determine the agreement’s validity. How can we have MPs in our Parliament who are silenced in this manner?”

Recall that UMNO candidates who wish to contest the last election must sign an agreement which accords the party’s president full power to decide what he deems fit on their behalf.

“The MPs relinquished their rights to determine, for example, who should be Prime Minister,” asserted Zaid who founded Zaid Ibrahim & Co, the largest private law firm in Malaysia (which he no longer owns),

“This is not how MPs should be treated and it should not be practised at all. MPs are expected to be the voice of the people in their areas, not the voice of the UMNO president. They are expected to take their oath of office seriously.”

Meanwhile, Jailani who has fearlessly accepted UMNO’s legal action and promised to expose the party’s “dirty tactics” in the court than to pay the RM100 mil compensation has accused UMNO of trying to bankrupt him.

On Aug 3, Zahid who is also the Barisan Nasional (BN) confirmed that party has served Jailani with a letter of demand (LOD) following his move to join PAS.

Jailani first won the Rembia seat on a PKR ticket during the 14GE in 2018 but defected to BN along with three other Pakatan Harapan (PH) representatives two years later in the aftermath of the Sheraton Move to form the new state government.

On July 16, PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan announced that Jailani joined the party in June last year.

Takiyuddin also claimed the move did not affect Jailani’s position as a second-term Rembia state assemblyman because he made the move before Melaka enforced its anti-party-hopping law. - Aug 9, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/zaid-urges-umno-reps-to-challenge-their-presidents-bizzare-rm100m-compensation-in-court/