‘Open to abuse’ - Bersatu reps disagree with Penang anti-hopping law ruling
Four Bersatu assemblypersons have expressed disagreement with the Federal Court ruling that Penang’s anti-party hopping law did not violate the Federal Constitution...
Four Bersatu assemblypersons have expressed disagreement with the Federal Court ruling that Penang’s anti-party hopping law did not violate the Federal Constitution.
“We respect the decision of the Federal Court, but we disagree with it.
“It is important for the public to know that we challenged Article 14A of the Penang Constitution because we believe that as it stands today, the provision is open to abuse.
“The provision is wrongfully being used against us,” said Zulkifli Ibrahim (Sungai Acheh), Afif Bahardin (Seberang Jaya), Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq (Bertam) and Zolkifly Md Lazim (Telok Bahang) in a joint statement today.
Yesterday, the seven-person bench chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat made the unanimous ruling on the legality and constitutionality of Article 14A.
Article 14A states that a state assemblyperson shall vacate his or her seat if having been elected as a candidate of a political party, resigns or is expelled from a party or has been elected otherwise than as a candidate of a political party, joins a political party.
The four assemblypersons had filed three writs of summons in 2020 against the state assembly and its speaker to challenge a motion introduced in October 2020 for the four to vacate their seats and by-elections to be held.
Referring to Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution which deals with the fundamental right to form associations, such as in political parties, the chief justice said the right to join or leave a political party is distinct from the rules that a state assemblyperson is bound to upon being elected.
Tengku Maimun noted that the recent Dewan Rakyat passing of the anti-hopping bill made exceptions in situations where it is not party-hopping if a member of Parliament was sacked from the political party on which he or she contested for election.
She was referring to the exception contained in the anti-hopping bill passed by the Dewan Rakyat, whereby a party member who is sacked by the party goes through the due process and later joins another party.
The tabling of the motions for Zulkifli, Afif, Khaliq Mehtab, and Zolkifly to vacate their seats has been put on hold pending the disposal of their legal action.
Following the Sheraton Move in early 2020 that toppled the Pakatan Harapan federal government, Zulkifli and Afif were sacked from PKR, while Khaliq and Zolkifly remained as members of Bersatu.
However, the four claimed they never defected or changed parties.
“Two of us were elected on the Bersatu platform, and we remain with Bersatu.
“The other two were expelled from our former party for making statements which were perceived as being critical of the party leadership.
“If the Penang state government is genuine in its claim and the spirit of bipartisanship, we believe that the motions to disqualify us should be withdrawn,” they said in the statement.
The quartet also argued that political parties should not be accorded absolute control to dictate the decisions of assemblypersons.
“As elected representatives, we represent all the people of our constituencies whether they voted for our party or not, and we will continue to make decisions based on what we feel are in the best interest and needs of our constituents and not just on party demands,” they said.
Katak talking cock and bull. Hope by next month all 4 kataks will have to vacate their seats. I feel so good about it..
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