Suspended Umno rep joins PAS

• UPDATED 7.51PM | Added Malacca legislative speaker’s comments.

PAS has announced that Rembia assemblyperson Muhammad Jailani Khamis, who is on a six-year suspension from Umno, has joined the Islamist party.

PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan revealed that Jailani has been a member of the party since June last year.

Takiyuddin (above, left) told a press conference in Parliament that Jailani joining PAS does not go against the anti-hopping law as Malacca had yet to enact the law at that time.

With Jailani’s defection, PAS now has a representative in the Malacca state legislative assembly - bringing the total number of opposition-held seats to three.

The other two Perikatan Nasional lawmakers in the Malacca state assembly are Mohd Yadzil Yaakob (Bemban), and Dr Mohd Aleef Yusof (Sungai Udang).

Takiyuddin said Jailani submitted his application to join PAS on June 10, 2023, which was accepted on the same day.

He noted that the Malacca state assembly only greenlit the anti-hopping law on July 31 last year.

“He (Jailani) was admitted into PAS on July 10, last year. At that time, Malacca had not enforced the anti-hopping law,” the Kota Bahru MP said.

Also present at the press conference were Jailani and several other senior PAS leaders.

One party after the other

On Sept 9 last year, the Umno disciplinary board proposed that Jailani be suspended for six years.

This was after he skipped a proceeding to explain his attendance at a PN event at the start of the coalition’s campaign for the Simpang Jeram and Pulai by-elections, the month before. The polls took place on Sept 9.

Jailani became the Rembia lawmaker in 2018 on a PKR ticket before defecting in 2020. He would join Umno a year later.

Upon being re-elected during the 2021 Malacca state election on a BN ticket, he was appointed to then-chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali’s state executive council.

However, when Ab Rauf Yusoh took over as chief minister in March last year, Jailani was dropped from the executive council.

Jailani retained the Rembia seat in the 2021 state election with 41.6 percent of the vote share.

For the people

Takiyuddin reiterated that Malacca had not enforced the anti-hopping law at the time Jailani joined PAS - evident by the fact that Rauf himself allegedly invited Malacca PN representatives to join the government then.

Jailani said he decided to join PAS as he wanted to be with the rakyat “through thick and thin”, unlike the six Bersatu MPs and one assemblyperson who voiced support for the coalition government.

He said his decision was made easier after witnessing how the government was purportedly unable to handle the people’s welfare effectively.

“They (the turncoat Bersatu representatives) supported the government because they want allocations, but I have the people’s interests at heart.”

No notification from PAS

Separately, Berita Harian reported that the Malacca state assembly is still waiting for a formal notification from PAS regarding Jailani’s move to join the party.

The Malay daily quoted state assembly speaker Ibrahim Durum as saying that he has so far only learnt of the matter through media reports, with no formal notification from PAS or Jailani.

“Once I receive (official notification), I will hold a special meeting with several parties including the state’s law officer,” he reportedly said.

Ibrahim said he would also verify the exact date when Jailani had joined PAS, describing the announcement today as an alleged attempt to avoid enforcement of the state’s anti-hopping legislation.

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