KUALA LUMPUR: Ten Gombak voters have filed a civil suit against their member of parliament Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali for breaching his fiduciary duty and representations to his constituents.
The 10 — 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, through their counsel Yohendra Nadarajan — filed the suit at the High Court on Nov 27 and named Azmin as the sole defendant.
In their statement, they said they are seeking a declaration that Azmin, who is also the international trade and industry minister, had committed tort of deceit against them.
The plaintiffs are also seeking a declaration that Azmin has breached his constitutional oath under Article 59(1) read together with the 6th schedule of the Federal Constitution by breaching the representations.
"The defendant was elected as the Gombak MP and Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman during the last general election under Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
"The defendant committed himself to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto and represented that if elected, he would abide by the same, which was to address the wrongdoings committed by Barisan Nasional (BN) when it was the federal government.
"During the campaigning period, the defendant had campaigned for votes on the basis of his membership in PKR and PH.
"Azmin won the Gombak parliament seat and Bukit Antarabangsa state seat with a 63.10 per cent and 79.64 per cent majority, respectively.
"Votes, including the plaintiffs', were cast by the electorate for the defendant as a candidate for PH on the basis of the representations and the PH manifesto," they said.
However, they said, the process of reforms was stalled when the defendant orchestrated or took part in the change of government dubbed the "Sheraton Move".
They said the defendant led several leaders from PKR to join the move during a meeting held by leaders from BN, Pas and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) on Feb 23.
"The defendant with 10 other PKR members declared themselves an independent bloc before they were sacked from the party for their open acts of betrayal. On Feb 28, the defendant and the 10 other PKR members applied to join Bersatu.
"The defendant was appointed the international trade and industry minister and de facto deputy prime minister in the new federal government by (Perikatan Nasional) which (also) consists of members from BN and Pas," they said.
The group said Azmin had breached his fiduciary obligations and duties by being involved in the Sheraton Move and deciding to leave PH.
"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.
"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 added.