6 former Bersatu reps confident their seats won't be vacated

Six former Bersatu MPs who voiced support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim are confident that their parliamentary seats will not be vacated.

At a press conference in Parliament today, Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman insisted that their act of supporting the Madani government is not in violation of Bersatu’s constitution.

He said he and the other five representatives neither quit Bersatu nor hopped to other parties. Instead, their memberships were automatically terminated by Bersatu for supporting the Anwar administration, Suhaili added.

“We are of the opinion that there will not be vacancies in our parliamentary constituencies because we never quit Bersatu.

“What happened was we were fired from the party. Because there were no elements of us quitting the party or jumping to the party, which would trigger the anti-hopping law per Article 49A of the Federal Constitution,” said Suhaili (above).

The other MPs present at the press conference were Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), and Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang).

‘Did it for the rakyat’

Bersatu chief whip Ronald Kiandee previously submitted notices to the Dewan Rakyat, seeking speaker Johari Abdul to declare six parliamentary seats held by defectors as vacant.

Johari later confirmed the notices and said the outcome will be announced in due time.

Suhaili reiterated that the six representatives backed Anwar for the sake of their respective constituents.

He also blamed the Bersatu leadership for failing to abide by a decree by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to form a coalition government.

“We supported the Madani government for the sake of the rakyat in our constituencies who need various forms of assistance.

“We contested to become (part of) the government and the king suggested Bersatu become (part of) the government. But the party leadership decided to become the opposition without discussing with us (Bersatu representatives) instead,” he said.

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