The lawsuit was filed by Amanah’s Alor Mengkudu assemblyman Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi against army retiree Ramli A Rahman of PPBM.
Ramli made an open apology to Phahrolrazi, witnessed by both their lawyers Muhamad Samsul Nizam Sohhimi and Zulhazmi Shariff respectively, before Sessions Court judge Nabihah Ibrahim.
Ramli had uploaded a post on his Facebook account “Harry Ramli”, dated March 7, along with a screenshot of a WhatsApp message which contained inaccurate information.
“I hope the plaintiff can forgive me for my action, and I promise to not repeat such an act in future.
“It is also my hope that we will be able to restore good relations with each other, and that both of us will be able to work together to serve the people in Alor Mengkudu specifically, and the people of Kedah as a whole,” he said in his apology.
Ramli also promised to remove the post.
Phahrolrazi, who is also Kedah Amanah deputy chairman, sued Ramli on April 18, seeking RM200,000 in damages along with an apology and also for an order to remove the post.
Zulhazmi said that with the apology, the case has been resolved as Phahrolrazi had agreed to withdraw his claim.
“Since my client won the Alor Mengkudu seat, he has decided to not dwell on the matter further, but instead focus on serving the people of Alor Mengkudu,” he added.
Prior to GE14, Phahrolrazi’s candidacy in Alor Mengkudu, a state seat under the parliamentary constituency of Alor Setar, had been opposed by PPBM.
The dispute saw about 4,000 PPBM members from 15 polling districts in the Alor Mengkudu constituency resigning from the party and joining Umno.
Ramli also reportedly said they would boycott and not help Phahrolrazi’s election campaign.
Ramli, who was the then head of the Jalan Tanjung Bendahara Alor Setar voting district centre, said it was disappointing that PH had decided to hand over the seat to a candidate who was not known and had never served the local community.
In GE14, Phahrolrazi secured the seat with 8,840 votes, defeating PAS’ Ahmad Saad @ Yahya by a majority of 1,876 votes.