TWO Amanah members are in danger of being declared bankrupts over their failure to pay costs after their election petitions to challenge the 13th general election results in two state seats were rejected.

Their petitions were dismissed on technicalities and they were ordered to pay costs. 

Shamsul Sakri Che Din, who challenged the Pasir Panjang polls result, was ordered to pay RM40,000 each to the BN Pasir Panjang rep Rashidi Ibrahim, the election returning officer and the Election Commission. The amount was later reduced to RM80,000 from RM120,000.

Mohd Ridzuan Asit, who challenged the results in the Lubok Merbau state seat won by a Barisan Nasional candidate, was ordered to pay RM30,000 in cost to the Malaysian government.

The duo from Perak are among the many PAS members who had filed petitions on behalf of the Islamist party, using their own names, but because they had quit following the party’s internal split and joined splinter party Amanah, they have been left to fend for themselves.

Donation drives

Before Shamsul’s and Ridzuan’s cases came to light, a former PAS Youth leader in Pulai, Johor, faced the same situation, risking bankruptcy if he failed to pay RM50,000 in cost to the EC and returning officer in his failed petition.

Imam Za’aba Ibrahim had challenged the election result for the Pulai federal seat that went to BN’s Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who is now deputy home minister.

Because he had crossed over to Amanah, Imam Za’aba did not get any help from the old party. The only resort was fundraising efforts by Amanah and its Pakatan Harapan colleagues using social media.

Amanah organising secretary Suhaizan Kaiat, who handled the fundraising, said they had to highlight the plight on social media and urged the public to donate to the Imam Za’aba Solidarity Fund.

The donation drive was a success. It managed to raise RM54,431.76 in about a month, with the support of well-wishers from around the country, meeting the court’s January 17 deadline.

“Imam Za’aba is a popular activist, who takes part in many political programmes. People know him, so many sympathised with his situation.”

However, Suhaizan, who was formerly PAS Youth chief, said he did not know if there were more former PAS members facing the same troubles elsewhere in the country.

Local and outstation support

The fundraising efforts are largely handled by local Amanah grassroots leaders and members, who help spread the word over social media platforms if there are former PAS members among them who need help.

Since they were slapped with bankruptcy notices earlier this year, Shamsul and Ridzuan held their own fundraisers, spearheaded by their respective local Amanah communities. 

Both also got help from DAP’s Zaidi Ahmad, a Penang government information officer, who had been using WhatsApp chat groups to highlight their predicament.

Shamsul, 54, managed to raise about RM35,000 with the help of the Lumut Amanah division. He added RM10,000 from his own savings and paid the first instalment of RM40,000 in August.

He sold his four-wheel drive for RM9,000, chipped into another RM1,000, and paid the second instalment of RM10,000 last month. He has to pay the remaining RM30,000 in RM10,000 monthly instalments over the next three months to avoid becoming a bankrupt.

“DAP leaders like Penang deputy chief minister II Dr P. Ramasamy donated RM3,000. Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham also donated. 

“Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong from PKR gave me RM1,000. Several other leaders have pledged to donate, too. I can only depend on friends now. PAS won’t be helping me,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

If he could not raise RM10,000 each month, he would ask his friends for donations or borrow money from relatives, he said.

Shamsul is also taking his donation drive to the upcoming “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” (Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy) rally in Petaling Jaya on October 14 and the national Amanah convention in Alor Star later this month.

“Life is tough,” the former navy man said of having to raise so much money when he and his family were surviving on his pension.

He has seven children aged between seven and 25, with five still in school. He used to run a business but has since stopped after suffering a stroke more than two years ago. 

His wife is now a homemaker, caring for him and their children full-time, after losing her old job as a kindergarten teacher.

“We have about RM1,300 to spend each month. Before my stroke, I also had a bypass. I also have diabetes. Financially, things are not easy,” said Shamsul, who is better known as Pak Ali from Lumut.

Fighting back

Ridzuan, 51, from Kg Sg Ati in Padang Rengas managed to collect RM18,940 so far. He has until November 1 to raise the rest of the money.

He said the initial deadline to raise the total RM30,000 was last Monday (October 2) but obtained the November 1 date after filing a countersuit against the prosecution at the Ipoh High Court.

“I filed an affidavit to countersue the Attorney-General’s Chambers because the bankruptcy notice states that the prosecution is after me to collect payment for the government of Malaysia. 

“By right, it should be the EC, not the government. I named the EC as a respondent in my 2013 petition. The government has nothing to do with my case.

“So come, November 1, I will either succeed in getting the case dismissed on technicalities or I will still have to pay the amount,” he said, adding that maybe he is the first person in the country to sue the A-GC over an election case.

Ridzuan also said he would be arguing that he should not be declared a bankrupt over RM30,000, as the debt threshold for bankruptcy proceedings have been increased to RM50,000 following an amendment to the Insolvency Act in May this year.

“I raised this issue when I met with the assistant registrar in chambers on Monday. There were no objections against my arguments,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Ridzuan earns a meagre RM800 to RM1,000 a month doing odd jobs (kerja kampung) in his kampung like planting bananas, tapping rubber and tending farms to support his wife, elderly mother and three schoolchildren aged seven to 12.

Despite his humble background, he has been fighting his own case in court.

“I have a law firm advising me but I face the court alone. The lawyer has given me law books to read to understand the laws concerning elections. I am in politics, so I need to know these things.”

Asked if he was angry with “the old party” for not helping him despite him following party instructions to file the petition, Ridzuan said he bore PAS no grudges.

“As I am now in Amanah, PAS is not involved. I am not angry with PAS. As I am in politics, I accept my situation.

“It is fine. Maybe this is a test (by Allah) to make my political struggle more mature. I will take it as such. Personally, I joined politics to make friends, not enemies.”

PAS’ attitude

Shamsul said if they had stayed in PAS, they would not be facing the bankruptcy problem.

He said 13 PAS members filed petitions around the state to challenge the election results for various seats, but only he and Ridzuan faced bankruptcy troubles because they quit PAS.

Suhaizan also concurred that PAS would have taken care of the costs if they had remained as PAS members.

“Many petitions were filed by PAS and dismissed but most were settled without issue because the petitioners did not leave the party.”

He said apart from the Pulai federal seat, PAS also filed a petition through another party member over the election result in the Nusajaya state seat.

Both seats were contested and lost by then PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub in the 2013 polls. Salahuddin himself also left PAS and is now Amanah deputy president.

“But the petitioner for the Nusajaya seat faces no bankruptcy problem because he didn’t quit PAS,” Suhaizan said.

“We really don’t understand them (PAS). All the petitioners merely did what the party had told them to do. 

“The petitions were filed under PAS. The party should show some responsibility.” – October 5, 2017.