KOTA KINABALU – A former Sabah Bersatu leader has claimed to be unaware of any letter indicating that the six Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) candidates who quit Bersatu were still members of the party when contesting the 15th general election last month.
Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun, who was previously Sabah Bersatu’s deputy chairman, said he had no knowledge of such a letter addressed to Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as claimed by Beluran MP Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee in Parliament.
Personally, I am not aware of such a letter,” he told The Vibes today.
On Monday, Kiandee – who now heads Sabah Bersatu’s chapter – revealed in the Dewan Rakyat the contents of a purported letter dated November 3 addressed to Muhyiddin from the Sabah Bersatu headquarters in Alam Mesra here.
Muhyiddin also chairs the Perikatan Nasional coalition.
The letter purportedly lists the six GRS candidates from Sabah Bersatu who ran in the election.
All Sabah Bersatu leaders resigned from the party on December 10 to be aligned with the federal unity government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is chairman of Pakatan Harapan.
They are now direct members of GRS until a new party is formed under the state’s ruling alliance.
Their departure from Bersatu has triggered a debate on whether four of them who were elected MPs in the national polls had violated the federal anti-party hopping law.
The four MPs are Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Datuk Matbali Musah (Sipitang), and Datuk Jonathan Yasin (Ranau)
The quartet now risk losing their seats if they had indeed jumped parties after the election.
Kiandee had questioned the nature of GRS’ clarifications over the events that ensued after their departure from Bersatu, claiming them to be backdated justifications.
In one instance, he quoted former law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar as saying, according to “reliable sources”, that the four had resigned in October.
He also pointed out that there were no meetings on the matter – as claimed by GRS – as he should have attended them, being a Bersatu divisional chief and a GRS member at that time.
Law and Institutional Reform Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has said that Article 49A of the federal constitution on anti-party hopping provides that the Dewan Rakyat speaker has 21 days to decide on the status of a seat – after receiving official notification from the MP.
If the speaker decides there is a vacancy, they need to notify the Election Commission for a by-election to be held within 60 days.
However, as the amendments in the Constitution (Amendment) Act (No. 3) 2022 (Act A1663) place several conditions for making a determination, she is awaiting a report and legal opinion on the matter from the attorney-general.
Kiandee, when contacted, gave no response on whether he had written to the Dewan Rakyat speaker over the complications involving the four MPs. – The Vibes, December 22, 2022
