KOTA KINABALU: Bersatu has sent a notice to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker seeking to vacate four parliamentary seats won on a Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) ticket in the 15th General Elections (GE15).
Its vice president Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said the party was doing so in line with the anti-party hopping law provided for under Article 49(A) (3) of the Federal Constitution.
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The four MPs are Minister in Prime Ministers' Department Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Tourism, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Datuk Matbali Musah (Sipitang) and Datuk Jonathan Yassin (Ranau).
In a statement on Thursday (Dec 29), Kiandee said they were all members of Bersatu and contested the Nov 19 general election using the GRS logo.
Kiandee said a letter dated Nov 3 from Sabah Bersatu to party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin showed that the four were contesting the election as members of Bersatu.
He said the Sabah Bersatu chairman at the time, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, also confirmed that the six GRS candidates were from Bersatu in a public announcement on Nov 2.
However, Kiandee noted that on Dec 10, Hajiji said in a press statement that Sabah Bersatu party leaders, including the MPs, had left the party.
At the Dec 19 Parliament sitting, the four MPs who won the election were sitting in the government bloc under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
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"The act of joining and sitting in a bloc that does not support Bersatu led by Muhyiddin and Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin as the Leader of the Opposition is 'crossing the floor' and it violates their election promise to the voters," he added.
"As a result of that, their membership in Bersatu has lapsed in accordance with the party constitution and this matter has been notified through Bersatu's letter dated Dec 21.
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"They must cease to be members of the Dewan Rakyat and their seats should be vacated," Kiandee said.
He added that the party had asked the Speaker to notify the Election Commission within 21 days of the date of the written notice so that the election process can be set in motion to fill the vacated seats.
