Mohd Radzi remains MP of Putrajaya, court rulings

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Dr. Mohd Radzi Md Jidin (Picture) von Bersatu has retained his position as Putrajaya MP after an electoral court rejected a petition against him.

This comes after High Court Judge Datuk Faizah Jamaludin upheld a preliminary appeal by Mohd Radzi to drop the petition of Putrajaya Umno Deputy Head of Department Datuk Ahmad Faisal Abdul Karim.

The judge ruled that the petitioner (Ahmad Faisal) had failed to prove corrupt practices committed by either the defendant (Mohd Radzi) or his agent.

“The lack of facts and details on the alleged voter bribery will make it impossible to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt if a trial were to take place. I find that the motion fails to comply with Rule 4(1)(b) of the Election Motion Rules and is therefore defective,” the judge said via online proceedings today.

She further said that as an electoral judge, she was limited by the powers expressly conferred on her under the Electoral Violations Act.

“The petitioner’s failure to comply with pleadings and procedures created a jurisdictional deficiency that prevented me from hearing the application. Therefore, this petition has been cancelled,” she said.

Therefore, the court also ordered Ahmad Faisal to pay RM 20,000 in expenses to Mohd Radzi.

Attorneys Hafarizam Harun, Norhazira Abu Hayan and Amin Othman represented Ahmad Faisal while Mohd Radzi was represented by Yusfarizal Yussoff.

In the petition filed on Jan. 26, Ahmad Faisal sought a court order to declare that Mohd Radzi should not be declared the winner of the Putrajaya seat in the 15th general election held on Nov. 19 last year due to his alleged bribes from each RM 150 enticed voters to vote for him and not other candidates.

The bribes were allegedly spotted via a WhatsApp group on November 21 and December 21 last year, and January 4 this year.

Mohd Radzi won the Putrajaya seat by 16,002 votes, beating four-term incumbent Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor of Barisan Nasional, who received 13,692 votes. –Bernama