Bersatu: Dewan Rakyat speaker must announce vacancy of 6 seats

Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul has no choice but to announce the vacancy of six seats now that Bersatu has terminated the memberships of its rogue MPs.

Bersatu supreme council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan said in a Facebook post that Johari would want to ensure continuity in the implementation of rules in both parliamentary houses.

If not, the country could face a constitutional crisis, the Tasek Gelugor MP warned.

“I am sure that Johari wants to be known as a person who adheres to the principle of the legislative body’s independence from the executive body and is free from influence from political parties.

“With that principle, I’m sure Johari also understands and realises that he has no choice but to declare the six MP seats in the Dewan Rakyat vacant as well.

“If this precedent is not respected or not followed in terms of uniformity, there may be a serious constitutional crisis as a result of not following the established precedent,” he said.

State precedent

Wan Saiful was referring to Kelantan state assembly speaker Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah’s announcement earlier today, which declared the vacancy of the Nenggiri state seat.

The decision was made after the Kelantan state assembly received a written notice under clause (3) of Article 31A of the State Constitution from Mohd Azizi Abu Naim, who held the seat, on June 13, Amar said.

Apart from that, he said Bersatu on June 12 also informed that Azizi’s membership had been revoked and subsequently the seat was declared vacant.

Azizi, who is also Gua Musang MP, was among the seven Bersatu lawmakers whose party memberships were terminated for voicing support for the Madani government.

The other representatives given the boot were Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, Tanjong Karang MP Zulkafperi Hanapi, Jeli MP Zahari Kechik, Kuala Kangsar MP Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid, and Selat Klang assemblyperson Abdul Rashid Asari.

Bersatu earlier amended its party constitution to stipulate that any elected representative who defected would automatically cease to be a party member.

In doing so, the defectors will also trigger the anti-hopping law per Article 49A of the Federal Constitution and their seats will be vacated.

The Registrar of Societies approved the amendment to Bersatu’s constitution in April.

Despite the move aimed at vacating the seats of the renegade representatives and triggering by-elections, some experts have voiced scepticism on whether it would work and opined that the terminated members would continue as independent representatives.

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