KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition lawmakers’ woes over the lack of constituency allocations could have been solved by now if they had opted to switch their allegiances to the unity government, said a turncoat Bersatu MP.
Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan-Ind) stressed that while he and five other former Bersatu lawmakers sacked from the party after declaring their support for the government did not intend to cause chaos in the Dewan Rakyat, opposition MPs should consider following in their steps.
While he declined to comment on whether Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul’s decision to not vacate the seats held by the rebel MPs might cause more opposition members to support the government, Suhaili said opposition lawmakers were free to make their own choices.
“As opposition MPs, they don’t receive constituency allocations, but they are ‘wailing’ and shouting, asking the government for the allocation,” Suhaili told a press conference in Parliament today alongside four other Bersatu-turned-independent MPs.
“If they think we made a good decision, why didn’t they follow us in the first place? We decided to support the government for one simple reason: we needed our constituency allocation. That’s it, loud and clear.”
Speaking on behalf of the group, Suhaili said they had made their decision to support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s (Tambun-PH) administration after appeals to Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh-PN) for funds went unaddressed.
“What’s wrong with us supporting the government to ensure constituency allocations since the party was unable to provide them? We asked (Muhyiddin) and waited for a year, but we only got empty promises.
“In the end, we made a decision as leaders within our respective parliamentary constituencies,” he said, expressing his thanks to Anwar for channelling the allocations “earlier than hoped”.
He also reiterated that the speaker would determine the seating arrangements for the MPs in the lower House, saying: “Our fate is in the speaker’s hands now.”
“Since we received our letters from the party (on terminated memberships), we have sat in our usual spots (within the opposition bloc). There have been no changes, nor is it a problem for us. Maybe it’s a big deal for them, but not for us. We’re okay.”
Reading out a joint statement from the six MPs, Suhaili urged opposition bloc leaders to stop politicising the issue and instead work together to ensure the nation’s economic recovery, aided by stable politics.
He also said that Bersatu’s argument that the group had breached the anti-party hopping law enshrined under Article 49A(3) of the Federal Constitution did not hold weight as the legislation only applied to MPs who had relinquished their party memberships.
“However, we never left the party. Our letters clearly stated that we remain loyal to the party, as we’re only supporting the government to secure our MP allocations to help our constituents.
“As such, we stand by our conviction that we did not breach any rules under Article 49A(3). We are only supporting the government for the betterment of our voters in our parliamentary constituencies.”
The anti-party hopping law states that an MP’s seat will be vacated if the lawmaker in question resigns from their party, ceases to be a member of the party, or joins another political party.
However, the law that came into effect in October 2022 does not address instances where an opposition MP switches support to the government without leaving their party.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin, who is also Perikatan Nasional chairman, accused Johari of “tarnishing” the constitution by not vacating the seats held by six opposition MPs who had declared support for the government.
Muhyiddin also said the party’s appointed legal experts would take the appropriate action to uphold the law and the party’s constitution by challenging Johari’s decision in court.
Besides Suhaili, the five other MPs involved are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul (Bukit Gantang), Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tg Karang), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli) and Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar). – July 11, 2024
