After show-cause letter, Zuraida now faces defamation suit
THE STAR
Tuesday, 28 Jan 20205:59 PM MYT
By MAZWIN NIK ANIS
PUTRAJAYA: PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin does not only have to answer to a show-cause letter for alleged disciplinary misconduct but is also facing a legal suit from a party comrade.
PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail is suing Zuraida, who he claimed had slandered him.
“The show-cause letter was issued by the disciplinary board. I have also forwarded a letter to her, which is my suit against her.
“This letter is issued in my personal capacity and has nothing to do with the party, ” he said to reporters after attending the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry’s monthly gathering on Tuesday (Jan 28).
Saifuddin, however, did not reveal when the letter was sent to Zuraida, who is also his fellow Cabinet member, adding that it had to do with “her speech which contained elements of slander towards me”.
“I have asked my lawyer to send the letter to her, ” he said.
Asked if Zuraida has responded to the party’s show cause letter, Saifuddin said he was unaware as the letter would be sent directly to the disciplinary board.
“I am not sure if she has responded. But what I am waiting for from her is (a response) to my suit. That's all, ” he said.
On Jan 18, Zuraida was issued with a show-cause letter and was given 14 days to respond.
Zuraida was asked to respond to a list of issues including the content of a speech at a PKR gathering at Renaissance Hotel on Dec 8.
In her speech at the “Shared Prosperity Vision” dinner, the party vice-president claimed that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had tried to convince her that it was deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali in the sex video that went viral in June 2019.
The dinner was organised by Azmin shortly after those aligned to his faction boycotted the final day of the party’s national congress in Melaka.
The party has in recent months been split into two factions, one supporting Anwar and the other supporting Azmin, ever since a sex video purportedly featuring the latter was circulated by a team allegedly led by PKR members from Anwar's faction.
Zuraida has openly sided with Azmin.
