Leaving Bersatu, four Sabah MPs will face action
SHAH ALAM - The position of the four Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) MPs, who contested under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) logo in the 15th General Election (GE15) will be determined based on the anti-party hopping law.
Bersatu President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the action will be taken in accordance with Article 49A of the Federal Constitution.
"Bersatu Sabah still exists and functioning despite its former leadership chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and his followers announced they are leaving the party.
“Sabah Bersatu leadership, divisions, and branches were established by the party's Supreme Leadership Council (MPT) and only the MPT has the authority under the party's constitution to decide its position,” he said in a Facebook post, today.
Muhyiddin also expressed his disappointment over the attitude of the four MPs which he described as betraying the party and the people of Sabah.
"I am disappointed with the attitude of the former Bersatu leadership who did not show loyalty to the party that had placed them in a high position after the last Sabah state election.
"Moreover, their victory in GE15 on Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) logo," he said.
In the meantime, he also announced that Bersatu vice-president who is also Beluran MP Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee has been appointed as the Sabah Bersatu chief and Sabah PN liaison chairman.
He added that Kiandee was responsible for supervising and managing Bersatu and Sabah PN until the restructuring of the state's Bersatu and the state's PN is decided by Bersatu MPT and PN supreme council.
"I believe Bersatu members in the state who are loyal to the party's struggle will continue to remain in the party which is a component party of PN at the federal level," he said.
Article 49A(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution provides that an MP will lose their parliamentary seat if they leave their party or even quit from being a member of the party.
Article 49A(2)(c) provides that an MP will not lose their parliamentary seat just because they were expelled by the party.
On Saturday, Hajiji, who is also the Chief Minister, announced that he and three other Sabah Bersatu MPs were leaving the party and would form a new local party.
He explained that the decision was made after considering the current state of the country's political landscape, especially in Sabah.
Besides that, he said the decision of Bersatu Sabah leadership to leave Bersatu was made on the basis that it could no longer be defended to remain as status quo.
He said this was because at the federal level Bersatu was the opposition while GRS has pledged to support the unity government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
