KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 —Umno member Ramli Abdul Manan (picture) pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court today to bribing a fellow party member to enable him to run for a party post.

Ramli, 50, is charged with offering RM1,000 to Taman Melati Section 8 Umno branch chief Amir Saad in 2008.

The money was supposed to "help" Ramli, who used to own a transport company but is now unemployed, qualify to run for the post of Wangsa Maju Umno division committee member on Nov 8 of the same year.

If found guilty, he can be jailed for up to 20 years or fined five times the amount of the graft money involved.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Syafinas Shabudin suggested bail of RM5,000, but the court reduced it to RM3,000 on Ramli’s plea that he was now unemployed.

"Your honour, I plead not guilty to the charges. I would like to ask for bail to be set at RM2,000 as I am unemployed," said Ramli who was unrepresented.

Ramli is now head of the Kampung Buah Bahagia Umno branch.

Syafinas said: "The reason why I want bail to be set at RM5,000 is because he has been avoiding the police for some time. He was only arrested yesterday at the Kuala Lumpur LCCT after returning from Kuching."

The case was fixed for mention on Dec 4.