KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) will initiate legal action against Members of Parliament who have betrayed the party.
Its secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said this decision was reached during a special meeting of the Bersatu Supreme Council held last night.
"During the meeting, it was agreed upon that the party will take legal action against any of its elected representatives found to have betrayed the party.
"The legal action is intended for the elected representatives (who turned their back on the party) to vacate their seats.
"Bersatu is prepared to face any by-elections," stated Hamzah in a press release today.
Although the statement did not explicitly reference anyone, it is believed that he was referring to the six MPs who declared their support for a unity government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
They are Tanjong Karang MP Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi, Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), and Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan).
On a related matter, Hamzah said Bersatu Supreme Council has also agreed to amend Article 10 of the party's Constitution.
The amendment to the Article, said Hamzah, was to "prevent the same incident from recurring in the future."
"In formulating a concrete strategy to move forward, the (Bersatu) Supreme Council has unanimously agreed to continue with our fights under the leadership of party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, not only in the context of empowering the party but to also ensure that Bersatu remain and appear more credible, strict and brave in going against all the slanders fabricated by this government under the leadership of Anwar," he said.
Zulkafperi last week became the sixth MP from the party who had declared his support for Anwar. Zalkafperi, in a statement, said his decision was to ensure the continued advocacy for the welfare and development of his constituents, including the improvement of infrastructure and local needs.
Syed Abu Hussin last month claimed that several more MPs from Perikatan Nasional (PN) will come forward and express their support for Anwar soon.
He claimed that about seven or eight MPs in several states would throw their support to the prime minister.
