KUALA LUMPUR – “It’s not RM10 million, but RM100 million,” Umno secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki tells Datuk Muhammad Jailani Khamis, referring to the compensation for defecting after the latter announced he was becoming a PAS member this week.
In a video, Asyraf said the Rembia assemblyman had signed a contract and statutory declaration with Umno before the 15th general election, which would legally bind and punish him if he quits the party.
“There is a precedent where the high court ordered Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin to pay RM10 million to PKR.
“But in BN’s contract, it’s not RM10 million, but RM100 million,” he said in a Facebook video yesterday.
In the video, Asyraf showed the contract signed by Jailani and said that Umno’s party constitution stipulates that membership is automatically forfeited if a member joins another party, affiliates with a different coalition, or becomes independent.
“Umno is different from Bersatu or PAS. Our constitution was amended before the last general election,” he said.
Earlier this week, Jailani was announced as a PAS member after being suspended from Umno.
On August 28 last year, Umno’s disciplinary board accused Jailani of sabotaging the party after he attended an event by Perikatan Nasional in Bakri, Johor.
PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said the move was legal as the Melaka government had yet to implement the anti-hopping law when Jailani made the switch.
Jailani was first elected as Rembia assemblyman in 2018 under Pakatan Harapan.
He quit PKR in 2020 and served as an independent member of the Melaka State Legislative Assembly for nine months.
Jailani previously held the tourism, heritage, and culture portfolio before he was dropped from the line-up in April last year.
He also joined Umno in 2021 and was appointed Alor Gajah Umno information chief.
Last year, the high court ordered former Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin to pay RM10 million to PKR for breaching a bond she had signed with the party.
Her appeal was scheduled to be heard this month. – July 20, 2024