PETALING JAYA: Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin wants the courts to decide on the status of four MPs of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) who were formerly with his party.
This comes after Papar MP Armizan Ali said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul decided that he and the three other MPs do not have to vacate their seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
Muhyiddin insisted that Johari had made a mistake in interpreting Article 49A(3) of the Federal Constitution, which deals with party hopping among MPs.
“Since the authority to interpret the constitution and the laws is with the courts, Bersatu will refer this matter to the courts so that the rule of law is upheld,” he said in a statement.
The Perikatan Nasional chairman implied that it was improper for Johari to make a decision on the matter since he was a PKR member.
Armizan, Khairul Firdaus Akhbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Matbali Musah (Sipitang) had said earlier that they were leaving Bersatu to form a new party.
The four MPs had been elected in the recent general election (GE15) on a GRS ticket, while Bersatu was then part of GRS.
However, after the general election, GRS leaders, led by its chairman Hajiji Noor, said they had left Bersatu en masse. The coalition was also aligned with the unity government led by Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim.
Muhyiddin said Bersatu’s constitution stated that a member automatically loses their membership if they were to join another political party.
Nonetheless, he said this did not affect the four MPs as they were members of the party during GE15 while Bersatu was a founding component party of GRS.
“Therefore, GRS cannot be interpreted as ‘another political party’ based on the spirit and essence of Clause 10.2.3 of Bersatu’s constitution.”
