Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman has claimed that the newly approved amendment to Bersatu’s constitution will not impact his position as a federal lawmaker, along with the five other defectors.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Suhaili said his argument was based on the Registrar of Societies (ROS) circular to Bersatu, shared by party youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, that the approved amendment to Article 10 of the party constitution can be enforced from April 1.

“ROS said this new constitution is effective from April 1. If you ask me, my comment is based on what I have seen, which is the first page of the notice,” he said.

“I think it is safe for me to say, reading what the ROS said, a layperson’s understanding is that the new constitution only takes effect on April 1 and it is not retrospective.

“If let’s say the ROS said it was effective from June 1, 2023, then automatically all of us will get it (impacted),” said Suhaili, adding that he planned to meet with the other five MPs sometime this week.

Earlier, Wan Fayhsal claimed the approved amendment to the party’s constitution would allow Bersatu to vacate the seats held by six of the party’s MPs who have voiced support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin in his speech at the party’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on March 2, which passed the proposed amendments, said they aimed to stop more Bersatu lawmakers from “acting wild” and going against party policy.

At the time, the proposed amendment was prompted by the defections of six MPs - Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjung Karang), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), and Suhaili.

Four days after the Bersatu EGM, the party’s Selat Klang state assemblyperson Abdul Rashid Asari voiced his support for the leadership of Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

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