Status of 4 Sabah MPs unchanged, final decision after 21 days, says speaker

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul today said that the status of the four MPs from Sabah who quit Bersatu remains unchanged for now and that their seats have not been left vacant.

He said he received a notice from Bersatu to confirm that there had been unexpected vacancies in the four parliamentary seats on Dec 27.

"(But) I have to really look into this first... a decision on the status of the four MPs will be announced after a period of 21 days," he said when contacted by Bernama.

This comes after Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee said in a statement today that the party had sent a notice to the Dewan Rakyat about the unexpected vacancies of four parliamentary seats occupied by its former leaders.

He said this was done in accordance with Article 49A (3) of the Federal Constitution, regarding the four leaders who won their seats at the 15th general election on a Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) ticket.
 
Article 49A (3) of the Federal Constitution states that whenever the speaker receives a written notice from members of the Dewan Rakyat on the occurrence of a casual vacancy among the members, the speaker should establish that there is such a vacancy and notify the Election Commission within 21 days of the date he received the written notice.

Ronald said during the special Dewan Rakyat sitting on Dec 19, the four MPs – Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Matbali Musah (Sipitang) – had been seated in the government bloc.

"Their act of joining the government bloc and not supporting Bersatu led by Muhyiddin Yassin as the president and Hamzah Zainudin as the opposition leader is seen as crossing the floor and breaking the promises they made to the voters," he said.

He said their Bersatu memberships were terminated in accordance with the party constitution and that they were notified of the matter through a letter dated Dec 21.

"Hence, according to Article 49A (3) of the Federal Constitution, the four MPs must cease to be members of the Dewan Rakyat and their seats must be vacated," he said.

On Dec 10, former Sabah Bersatu leader Hajiji Noor was reported to have said that Sabah Bersatu leaders had unanimously decided to quit Bersatu, but stay under GRS.

Hajiji, who is also GRS chairman, said the decision was made after taking into account the country’s current political landscape, especially in Sabah, for the sake of the state and unity, and with the aim of fulfilling the people’s desire for them to fight under the auspices of a local party.