Not going anywhere: Suhaili (left) and Syed Abu Hussin.
PETALING JAYA: Two of the six Bersatu MPs who pledged support for the Prime Minister say that they are ready to go “all the way” if they were asked to vacate their seats.
Labuan MP Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman and Bukit Gantang MP Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, who were contacted yesterday, said they and the other Bersatu lawmakers involved would bring the matter to court if necessary, declaring that nothing would make them change their mind about supporting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Both of them said they would await Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul’s decision on whether they had to vacate their seats.
“My purpose is very clear. I need the MP’s allocation to help my constituents. I won because of the people, not because of the (Bersatu) president, supreme council or secretary-general. The people voted for me and they are my priority,” Suhaili said.
He said the federal allocation that he had received greatly assisted him, citing instances of constituents whose homes were razed by fire needing emergency aid.
Suhaili urged the Bersatu leaders to set their ego aside and discuss an agreement with the Federal Government, as was done when Pakatan Harapan signed an MOU with the then Federal Government in 2021.
(On Sept 13, 2021, the Federal Government and then Opposition Pakatan inked a memorandum of understanding to establish bipartisan cooperation, covering the areas of strengthening the plan to fight Covid-19, transformation of the administration, parliamentary reforms, ensuring judicial independence, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the formation of a steering committee).
“It is now Ramadan and soon it will be the second Hari Raya when representatives have to face the people who voted them in.“Are we going to give them the same story (of no allocations)? People are tired of listening to excuses like this,” Suhaili said.
Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz also said he would not budge.
“Either way, I am not changing my stance,” he said, adding that he pledged support for Anwar as he was confident that the latter could do something to change Malaysia.
He said the amendments recently approved by Bersatu could not stop more Perikatan lawmakers from supporting the Prime Minister, claiming that he was confident of this at both the parliamentary and state assembly levels.
Besides Suhaili and Syed Abu Hussin, the other four Bersatu MPs are Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang) and Datuk Dr Zulkaperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang).
On March 6, former Selangor Bersatu chairman and Selat Klang assemblyman Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari also declared support for the leadership of Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, who is a PKR vice-president.
On March 2, Bersatu amended its constitution to automatically nullify the membership of any of its elected representatives who shifted allegiance to rival parties.
Meanwhile, Bernama reports that former Bersatu supreme council member Dr Muhammad Faiz Na’aman believed that more of the party’s leaders and pioneer members at all levels would be joining PKR.
Muhammad Faiz, who confirmed his entry into PKR yesterday, said this could be more evident as the Bersatu party elections are expected to take place later this year.
“I can say here that the support declared for Selangor Mentri Besar’s leadership by Abdul Rashid is an early sign of this shift in support.
“As the party elections approach, I am confident that individuals who have significantly contributed to the party will find themselves marginalised due to manoeuvring by the ‘cartel’ faction, ultimately leading to a substantial wave of dissent across all levels against Bersatu,” he said.
