JOHOR BARU: PKR is reviewing the possibility of enforcing a RM10mil bond on its former leaders Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who have switched parties before vacating their parliamentary seats, says Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh.
The PKR secretary-general said the party has proof that former PKR deputy president Rafizi and former vice-president Nik Nazmi had joined Parti Bersama Malaysia on Sunday.
This, she said, constitutes party hopping under PKR’s constitution.
“We have proof and a timestamp that they joined Bersama a day before they were supposed to vacate their parliamentary seats.
“According to the party constitution, they had already defected before vacating their seats,” she told reporters after a consumer advocacy programme.
Fuziah was asked whether Rafizi and Nik Nazmi would be subjected to a RM10mil PKR bond for vacating their seats.
PKR is now referring the matter to legal advisers, while the party’s political bureau is scheduled to meet today to discuss the issue, including possible action against both individuals, she added.
According to reports, all PKR election candidates had signed a bond before the 14th General Election in 2018, where they are to pay RM10mil within seven days if they won their seats on a PKR ticket but later resigned, joined another party or became independent.
On Sunday, Rafizi and Nik Nazmi announced their departure from PKR and claimed that they are not bound by the RM10mil bond, as they would be vacating their parliamentary seats before leaving PKR.
On whether action would be taken against the five PKR MPs seen at the Bersama event, Fuziah said the party will discuss its next course of action at its political bureau meeting.
Wong Chen (Subang), Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik (Balik Pulau), Rodziah Ismail (Ampang), Zahir Hassan (Wangsa Maju) and Lee Chean Chung (Petaling Jaya) attended the event but did not officially declare their support.
Bersama, also known as Malaysian United Party, was registered on Dec 2, 2016.
Meanwhile, the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s Office has confirmed to have received formal notification of the vacancies for the Pandan and Setiawangsa parliamentary seats.
“The resignation notices from Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad have been received,” a Speaker’s Office official said when contacted.
The official was responding to media queries on whether any formal notice had been submitted concerning vacancies in the two constituencies.
Earlier yesterday, Rafizi and Nik Nazmi said they had submitted their resignation letters to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.
“The proper and honourable step is to return the mandate to voters in Pandan and Setiawangsa, considering that we were elected under the Pakatan Harapan ticket in the last general election,” they said in a joint statement yesterday.
