My decision to let four ex-Bersatu MPs keep their seats is final: speaker

KUALA LUMPUR – The decision that four former Bersatu members need not vacate the parliamentary seats they won on Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s (GRS) ticket in the 15th general election (GE15) is final, said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul.

Johari said he had stated all the justifications and reasoning for his decision in a letter dated January 16 which he sent to Bersatu.

“As I have replied (in the letter to Bersatu) … that’s it (the decision), final. It’s up to Bersatu (to refer to the courts). They have the right to do so,” he said in a short reply when contacted today.

Earlier, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the party would refer the matter to court as Johari had erred in ruling that the four MPs did not breach the anti-party hopping law and thus did not have to vacate the Papar, Batu Sapi, Ranau and Sipitang seats in Sabah.

Muhyiddin, in a statement, said Johari’s decision was based on his interpretation of Clause 10.2.3 of the Bersatu constitution although the Dewan Rakyat Speaker was not empowered to do so and had made a mistake in his interpretation.

Muhyiddin said that in the January 16 letter, Johari had reasoned that going by this clause, the four MPs had become direct members of GRS on October 27, 2022 and thus had been automatically stripped of their Bersatu membership then before contesting in GE15 on November 19, 2022.

However, the Bersatu president said this clause did not apply to the four MPs because they were Bersatu members and the party was a founding component member of GRS at that time.

Therefore, GRS could not be classified as “another political party” based on the spirit and essence of that clause, said Muhyiddin, the Pagoh MP.

The status of the four MPs came into doubt after former Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor announced on December 10 that Sabah Bersatu leaders had unanimously decided to leave the party but remain under GRS.

Following that, Bersatu vice-president Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said in a statement on December 29 that the party had sent a notice to Johari confirming that “casual vacancies” had occurred for the four seats in accordance with Article 49A (3) of the federal constitution.

The notice named the four MPs as Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Datuk Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Datuk Matbali Musah (Sipitang). – Bernama, January 17, 2023