A BERSATU supreme council member said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul must declare vacancies for the seats held by six former Bersatu lawmakers who lost their party memberships for insubordination.
In a Facebook post today, Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan claimed that the country will fall into a “constitutional crisis” if Johari does not vacate the seats of six opposition parliamentarians who declared their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"Kelantan Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah has set a precedent with his decision today to vacate the Nenggiri state seat held by Bersatu lawmaker Mohd Azizi Abu Naim as vacant after he was stripped of his party membership.
“I hope the Speaker (of the Dewan Rakyat) will ensure some uniformity in implementing the rules of the State Assembly and the Dewan Rakyat after seeing what happened in Kelantan.
“If this precedent is not honoured or adopted from a standpoint of uniformity, then there could be a serious constitutional crisis as a result of failure to abide by set precedent," said the Tasek Gelugor MP.
Earlier, the Kelantan assembly declared the Nenggiri state seat vacant, paving the way for a possible by-election in the state.
Azizi is also the Gua Musang MP.
Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said the vacancy of the Nenggiri state seat was according to Article 31 of the state constitution.
It was recently reported that Bersatu had revoked the membership of six of its lawmakers with immediate effect and that notices had been issued to the said members informing them of their expulsion.
Party secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the notices were sent according to the directive issued by Bersatu’s supreme council, which convened on June 7, 2024.
Regarding Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman’s membership, Hamzah said the party terminated Suhaili’s membership under clause 10.2.6 of the Bersatu constitution last month.
The six MPs had failed to respond to a written instruction from the party’s supreme leadership council to pledge allegiance to the party.
The MPs are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Azizi, Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Datuk Zulkafperi Hanafi (Tanjong Karang) and Suhaili. – June 19, 2024.
