SEREMBAN – Amanah today passed a motion to amend its constitution so that any of its MPs or assemblymen who go against the decisions of the party or whip will automatically lose their membership in the party.
The motion received the approval of the majority of the delegates attending the party’s national convention here.
Federal Territories Amanah vice-chairman Ahmad Zamri As’ad Khuzaimi said when moving the motion that the amendment can be made by including a new clause, namely Clause 6.3, in Amanah’s constitution.
“They (members who violate the party’s decision) have also acted as giving up their membership from the party as provided for in Article 49A(1)(a)(i) of the federal constitution and are also considered to no longer be members of the party as provided in Article 49A (1)(a)(ii) of the federal constitution,” he said when proposing the motion.
It was among four motions accepted to be debated at this convention, with the others on the increase in the prices of basic goods, the right of Malaysian citizens to pass on citizenship to children born abroad, and the Malay-Muslim struggle for a vision of a dignified Malay-Muslim community.
Zamri said the motion was in line with the Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No. 3) 2022 related to the ban on MPs from party hopping, which was passed by the Dewan Rakyat in July.
“During the winding-up session by the honourable minister (Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar) on July 28, he gave an explanation to the Seremban MP’s (Loke Siew Fook) question that if any party member who is also an MP violates his party’s decision or disobeys the whip’s instructions, his membership as an MP will not be affected unless there is a provision in the party’s constitution which states that he will lose his membership if he does so.
“This means the MP can support any motion or action either in support of the government or opposition, and his action will not disqualify his membership (from his party) unless he party hops.
“Thus, an amendment to Amanah’s constitution needs to be made to give a clear definition to the matter and for the purpose of streamlining with the amendment of Article 49A of the federal constitution," he said.
Amanah communications director Abdul Khalid Samad said when explaining the motion that the party needs to make the change so that if any of its MPs or assemblymen violate the party’s decisions, they can be considered to have jumped ship.
In addition, the convention this time also accepted 14 other motions without debate, including the motion of the opposition coalition to face the 15th general election (GE15) by supporting the efforts of the leadership of Amanah and Pakatan Harapan (PH) to bring on board opposition parties who agree with PH’s policies under the “big tent” concept.
A proposal to use the PH logo for GE15 was also accepted since the PH logo was never tested in the GE after the coalition was officially registered after GE14.
Amanah is a component of the opposition PH coalition, with the other parties being PKR, DAP, and Upko. – Bernama, September 18, 2022
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