THIRTY 14th general election candidates from PKR, Amanah and PAS tonight agreed to declare their assets in exchange for election funding from PKR-linked electoral activism and research body Invoke.

The 27 who signed the agreement with Invoke were Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Johari Abdul, Manivanan Gowin, Khalid Samad, Fuziah Salleh, Mahfuz Omar, Imran Abdul Hamid, Wong Chen, Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid, Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, Dr Hatta Ramli, Rodziah Ismail, Azan Ismail, Aminuddin Harun, Saari Sungib, Dr Idris Ahmad, Ooi Tze Min, Lee Chean Chung, Dr Hasnul Baharuddin, Tan Kar Hing, Dr Tan Yee Kew, Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Dr Ismail Salleh, Maktar Shapee, Chang Lih Kang, Salahuddin Ayub and Kesavan Subramaniam.

The three who pledged to sign the agreement were Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Mohamad Sabu.

Under the agreement, the candidates will have to pay Invoke RM20 million if they fail to honour the contract.

“It is legally binding. It is not a show. If they fail to honour the contract, we can sue them,” said Invoke founder Rafizi Ramli.

He said the contract was drafted in a way that clearly showed it meant business, adding that those who chose to be part of the “partnership programme” would very likely honour the agreement.

He said each of the candidates who signed the agreement would be monitored and their performance would be tracked on a “leader scoreboard”.

“The one who ends up at the bottom three times in a row will be booted from the programme.”

The first batch who agreed to the deal comprised 20 candidates from PKR, nine from Amanah and one from PAS.

Rafizi, who is also Pandan MP, said those selected for the programme were candidates in marginal seats.

He said this was why there were no candidates from DAP and Bersatu.

“We briefed them all, but we are focusing on marginal seats.”

He said more candidates were set to ink the agreement with Invoke and declare their assets to the public following tonight’s first batch.

“It’s too good of a deal to resist, although they were hesitant at first. It is not that they have anything to hide, but it’s a privacy matter.

“Nevertheless, I was finally able to convince them. They only have to pay RM10 and sign the agreement with us to get funding.”

Rafizi said it took him about a month to convince the candidates to declare their assets.

“The agreement and the document of asset declaration will be up on the Invoke website by tomorrow for all to see.”

Tonight’s event saw the details of assets belonging to the candidates who signed the agreement displayed on a big screen for public viewing.

The event was held at the concourse level of the Summit shopping mall in Subang Jaya after the owner of a bungalow lot in Bangsar, where the event was originally slated to be held, cancelled the booking due to being constantly harassed by police’s Special Branch.

Rafizi said even though he could have held the event at any community hall in Selangor, he chose the Summit shopping mall as he wanted the event to reach out to those who were less politically inclined.

“That’s our target, the people who are least interested in politics. We want to engage them and get them to participate.”

The event saw some 150 people in attendance. – November 19, 2017.