PETALING JAYA: There is confusion on whether the Constitution (Amendment) (No 3) Act 2022, also known as the anti-party hopping law, applies to four Sabah MPs who claim to have quit Bersatu.
The four – Armizan Ali (Papar), Khairul Firdaus Akhbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Matbali Musah (Sipitang) – had contested in the 15th general election (GE15) under Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), but were Bersatu members at the same time.
Former de facto law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said whether the four need to vacate their seats can be decided by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, who has 21 days to make a decision.
He said if it is proven that they had left Bersatu on Oct 5, which is before GE15 took place on Nov 19, then they can remain as MPs.
“If they left the party after GE15, then it is very clear that the anti-party hopping law will apply to them,” he told theSun.
Lawyer Datuk Seri Rajan Navaratnam said if the four MPs claim that they had left Bersatu, then they must vacate their seats because the anti-party hopping law would apply to them.
He said it does not matter if Sabah has not adopted the law because if it has, it will only apply to the state assembly and not at the federal level since the four are members of the Dewan Rakyat.
“Only Bersatu will know when the four resigned from the party. If they claim to have stood under a GRS ticket in GE15, then they have to prove they are members of GRS.
“The question then arises whether a person can be a member of two political entities – GRS and Bersatu. The Registrar of Societies will be able to clarify this.”
Armizan has said he is a direct member of GRS and had signed up for membership before nomination for GE15.
He added that his GRS membership is in accordance with the coalition’s constitution.
He said he had not announced his resignation from Sabah Bersatu and had not submitted a resignation letter as he was elected in GE15 as a GRS candidate.
GRS, a coalition of several political parties, was formally registered in March, with membership comprising individuals as well.
Wan Junaidi said a person cannot be a member of two political parties, and no matter what happens, the first party he joined takes precedence over the second. He said if indeed the membership of the four in Bersatu was valid when they stood in GE15, then by resigning from the party they would have automatically lost their seats.
Lawyer V. Kokila Vaani said the anti-party hopping law, which came into effect on Oct 5, would not affect the four MPs if they had resigned before GE15.
“It was reported that the four Bersatu members left their party in early October before contesting in GE15. Hence, the anti-party hopping law will not affect them. Additionally, they had contested directly under the GRS banner and not as candidates of an individual component party,” she said, adding that since their association with Bersatu ended in early October, prior to GE15, Article 49A of the Federal Constitution does not apply and hence, no disqualification of the four GRS MPs would apply.
“The GRS constitution allows individuals to be registered as direct members. GRS permits individual membership of more than one party. For instance, an individual can be a party member of both GRS and Parti Bersatu Sabah.
“A clear example is STAR, which was a member of GRS and Perikatan Nasional coalitions during GE15,” Kokila said.