KOTA KINABALU: All four Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) MPs have submitted an explanation to the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat to say they did not breach the anti-party hopping law as Bersatu contends.
GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said he was confident that Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul will make the right decision as the MPs did not contravene the law.
ALSO READ: Bersatu asks Dewan Rakyat Speaker to vacate four seats under GRS
The four are Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Datuk Matbali Musah (Sipitang) and Datuk Jonathan Yassin (Ranau).
Bersatu vice-president Datuk Ronald Kiandee said on Dec 29 that the party had written to the Speaker asking for their seats to be vacated saying that they were Bersatu members who contested the Nov 19 general election using the GRS logo.
ALSO READ: No question of GRS MPs crossing the floor, says Armizan
Kiandee claimed that the four MPs automatically violated the anti-hopping law when they left Bersatu along with Hajiji and other Sabah chapter leaders last month.
"I know the Speaker will make the right decision because (the four MPs) have not contravened the anti-hopping law," Hajiji told reporters after distributing aid to the Dec 24 high tide victims in Kg Tanjung Ari Baru here whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
ALSO READ: Speaker: Bersatu note on GRS MPs received, I will act accordingly
"There is a lot of speculation but we know the details and the situation. We hear all kinds of things, but we know that they did not breach the law," he said.
All four MPs have maintained that they were direct members of GRS when they contested the election, did not represent Bersatu, and therefore did not "cross the floor" when they supported the national unity government.
