KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): A voter in the Putrajaya parliamentary constituency has filed an election petition against its Member of Parliament Mohd Radzi Jidin, claiming that there were bribes paid to voters by Mohd Radzi's agents.

Datuk Ahmad Faisal Abdul Karim, 49, is seeking to nullify the election results for the federal territory's parliamentary seat — per Section 32(c) of the Election Offences Act 1954 — on allegations that there were acts of bribery related to the elections held on Nov 19 last year.

Ahmad Faisal accused Mohd Radzi of knowing or consenting to the alleged acts of bribery performed by his agents which took place during the 15th general election (GE15).

Elaborating further, Ahmad Faisal — who is also Putrajaya Umno division vice-chairman — claimed that RM150 were given to voters in the constituency by Mohd Radzi's agents.

He cited WhatsApp conversations on Nov 21 and Dec 21, 2022 where a few of the app's users were discussing the topic of inducements. One user had claimed to receive RM150 and another claimed that the payments would be made in phases.

Ahmad Faisal claimed that there was a Putrajaya voter who received that amount in January this year from a Perikatan Nasional (PN) party worker.

He added that he would provide more information on these allegations during the hearing of the petition.

Ahmad Faisal filed the petition on Jan 26 this year, naming Mohd Radzi as the sole respondent.

Mohd Radzi, who is also Bersatu vice-president, had filed a preliminary objection (PO) to the election petition on Feb 12.

The PO was heard on Tuesday (Feb 28) before High Court judge Datuk Faizah Jamaludin, who sat as the election judge.

During the hearing, Mohd Radzi's counsel Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan argued that Ahmad Faisal had failed to plead the facts to prove his allegations.

He said the petitioner had failed to address pertinent facts like from whom the alleged bribe was received, where the bribe was paid and if the alleged payment was made based on Mohd Radzi's instruction and knowledge.

He pointed out that the WhatsApp conversations happened after GE15 and WhatsApp users cited in the petition did not include the users' full names, their IC numbers or addresses.

Takiyuddin, who was former de facto law minister, argued that the election petition was defective and therefore, the court ought not to entertain the petition.

Takiyuddin also raised an objection that the notice of appointment of solicitor was not stamped per mandatory provisions.

Besides Takiyuddin, Mohd Radzi was also represented by Yusfarizal Yusoff. Ahmad Faisal was represented by Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun and Norhazira Abu Haiyan.

Faizah has set March 10 to deliver her decision on the PO.

During GE14, Mohd Radzi won the Putrajaya seat in a six-cornered fight with a majority of 2,310 votes.

Mohd Radzi contesting under the PN ticket beat Putrajaya's four-term incumbent Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor of Barisan Nasional.