KUALA LUMPUR: The six Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) "rebels" are confident that they can keep their status as members of parliament (MPs), despite having their memberships from the party revoked.
Labuan MP Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman said after discussing with their lawyers, the six individuals felt that they would not need to vacate their seats as the party constitution, which prevented members from switching sides, was only amended on April 1.
This, he said, was done after the six of them had declared their support for the unity government and the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"We feel that the constitution was amended with ill intentions, to make the six of us the scapegoats. Or to be clearer, we were betrayed by the Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional leadership for choosing to prioritise people who voted for us, instead of supporting an opposition leadership that constantly attacks and criticises the government to no end."
Suhaili said this in a press conference in Parliament, together with Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim, Jeli MP Zahari Kechik, Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnaian Abdul Khalid, and Tanjong Karang MP Datuk Dr Zuklkafperi Hanapi.
The sixth Bersatu MP from Bukit Gantang, Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, was not present at the press conference.
Suhaili, who spoke on behalf of the others, reiterated that they did not leave Bersatu, but were stripped of their memberships, and had their names removed from the system.
"This clearly shows that the six of us did not leave the party or jump to another one, and that there was no violation of Article 49(a) of the Federal Constitution.
"We want to state clearly that our declaration of support for the Madani government is for the benefit of our constituents who need many forms of aid that we cannot afford to give if we continued being in the opposition bloc," he added.
He also said the six had not decided if they would defend their seats, if they had to vacate them and by-elections had to be called.
"Personally speaking, it was not our choice to be the opposition. We contested with the aim of becoming (part of the) government.
"The King at the time had advised Pakatan Harapan and PN to form the government for political stability, but the (PN) leadership decided to become the opposition without negotiating it with us (the MPs).
"This means, it was not our choice to become the opposition, we are just victims of circumstances.
"Now, we are choosing to go on the right path, which is to support the government for the sake of the people who voted for us," added Suhaili.
The six of them had sent an explanatory letter on their position to the Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul on June 27.
In the letter, they had insisted that Bersatu had removed their names from the party's membership list, causing them to become independent members in the Dewan Rakyat.
