PETALING JAYA: Bersatu has a huge mountain to climb if it wants to get its MPs and state assemblyman who went rogue to vacate their seats, says a senior lawyer.
Describing it as “climbing Mount Everest three times over”, Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said there are lengthy processes to establish if the seats would have to be vacated, adding that the term of Parliament’s automatic dissolution could already be reached by then.
While the party could write to the respective Speakers asking for the seats to be vacated, Mohamed Haniff said the Speakers could interpret it differently under the anti-hopping law, or Article 49A.
Article 49A of the Constitution, which came into effect in 2022, states that any MP will lose their seat if they have resigned as a member of the party, ceased to be a member of the party, or were elected as an independent but later joined another party.
However, it states that the MP will not lose the seat if their party is deregistered, they resign, or they are sacked from the party.
Mohamed Haniff said the rogue Bersatu elected representatives could argue they did not leave the party. The party has also yet to sack the rogue representatives.
“Bersatu can write to the Speaker, but if the Speaker’s decision goes against it, the case could be taken to the courts.
“It will be a lengthy process as it can go through the High Court, Court of Appeal, and later, the Federal Court, which can take two to three years,” he said.
Even if the courts decide the MPs have to vacate their seats, triggering a “casual” vacancy, it could be two years down the road, meaning there would be less than two years until the automatic dissolution of Parliament or state assembly, and there would be no by-election, he added.
However, he said if the Speaker determines the casual vacancy within that period has affected the numerical strength of the party constituting the majority of the House or assembly, a by-election could be called.
On Saturday, Bersatu amended its party constitution to automatically nullify the membership of any of its elected representatives who shift allegiance to rival parties. The amendments were presented to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) yesterday.
Six Bersatu MPs and a Selangor state assemblyman have declared support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari respectively.
Political pundit Dr Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said Bersatu’s amendments were similar to what DAP, Amanah and Umno had done to cover loopholes in the anti-hopping legislation.“This would of course make the anti-hopping law effective, and legislators should focus on their legislative work, rather than pursuing their own personal agenda,” he said.
Sunway University political scientist Prof Wong Chin Huat said that if ROS rejects the amendments or the courts find them unconstitutional, the similar amendments made by DAP, Amanah and Umno would also be nullified.
In the event of a by-election, he said Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman could retain his seat as voters there seemed to prioritise federal funds instead of party ideology.
However, Wong said chances of winning for the MPs in the peninsula, especially those in Kelantan and Perak, are slim.
He added that an inter-party deal was the real solution to prevent such attrition.
“This allows the Opposition to have constructive roles and sustain their chance of winning at the next general election, without having to resort to new Sheraton Moves,” he said.
