Dr M and four MPs call move illegal, say result of Muhyiddin’s dictatorship.
Five Members of Parliament (MPs) from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) last night issued a joint statement disputing the automatic nullification of their membership in the party.
They have called the move illegal and labelled it a product of a dictatorship by its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
The statement, signed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Armada chief Syed Saddiq Syed Rahman, supreme council member Dr Maszlee Malik and MP for Kubang Pasu Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, said the nullification had denied them their right to explain and defend themselves.
“Clearly, the president’s office is playing politics during the Covid-19 outbreak as well as an economic recession. This shows the president’s dictatorial inclinations.
“We also wish to state that the Bersatu president’s unilateral action to sack us without a valid reason is because of his anxiety in facing the party election, as well as his insecure position as the most unstable prime minister in our country’s administrative history,” they said.
They also claimed that the letter on the nullification of their membership was signed by an individual who was not empowered to do so by the party Constitution.
Earlier, a letter signed by Bersatu executive secretary Kapten (B) Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya, and which went viral on social media, said that the membership of Dr Mahathir and the other four MPs was automatically nullified in accordance with Clauses 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the party Constitution because they had sat in the opposition bloc during the Dewan Rakyat sitting on May 18.
According to Suhaimi, their expulsion was based on Article 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the Bersatu constitution – but based on a quick check, the two articles do not state that a member can be expelled if he or she sits on the other side of the Dewan Rakyat.
Article 10.2 of the Bersatu constitution states that the membership of a person is automatically revoked if he declares that he has left the party (10.2.2) or if he becomes a member of another political party in this country (10.2.3).
This issue was also raised by the five MPs, who described the rationale for their termination as “preposterous and illogical”, since they had never made a declaration that they have left the party.
They said the letters that were sent to them showed that the Bersatu secretariat is in disarray, as they were signed by an individual who has no power to do so.
“The actions of an executive secretary sending such letters to the people who are among Bersatu’s founders is distasteful and rude.
“We will ensure Bersatu returns to the right path and not used by certain quarters who are greedy and power-hungry.
“To all Bersatu MPs, we call on you to look at the state of our party and how we have lost power in several states.
“We have become like toys to be played with by the very party that we were fighting against before,” they said, referring to Umno and Barisan Nasional who are now part of the Perikatan Nasional government.
They added that they reserved the right to take legal action to protect their interests and to ensure the well-being of the party’s grassroots.
The five were informed of their termination from PPBM in separate letters last night.
Mahathir was the chairman of the party while his son, Mukhriz, was deputy president and was set to contest for the president’s post. Syed Saddiq was the youth wing’s chief.
Maszlee was the former education minister under Pakatan Harapan while Amiruddin was the deputy finance minister.
The notices of automatic termination are the latest in a tussle between two factions in PPBM, one led by Mahathir and the other by Muhyiddin.