DR Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the Registrar of Societies in affirming that he was no longer the chairman of Bersatu following his resignation amid the political turmoil in late February.

Dr Mahathir’s lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, in a letter today to the RoS, said the agency’s decision was one-sided, and had failed to consider that his client’s resignation was rejected by the party’s senior leaders.

He also urged RoS to investigate the matter and consider the supreme council’s rejection of the resignation.

In the letter dated May 5, RoS said Dr Mahathir’s resignation was valid and that Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s serving in the capacity of chairman was also valid.

In challenging the RoS letter, Haniff admitted that Dr Mahathir had resigned as Bersatu chairman, and that the party’s constitution does not state about revoking or rejecting a resignation.

“However there are also no provisions in the party’s constitution that a resignation through a letter is the complete process,” said Haniff in the letter.

He said Muhyiddin never considered himself acting chairman after he was appointed prime minister.

He cited the three times when Muhyiddin continued to refer to Dr Mahathir as the party chairman, including in a letter to sack Marzuki Yahya as party secretary-general and replace him with Hamzah Zainuddin.

He added that Muhyiddin continued to refer to himself as the party president in a memorandum of understanding signed by Perikatan Nasional last week.

In the same letter to RoS, Haniff said Dr Mahathir also wants the registrar to investigate Marzuki’s sacking and Hamzah’s appointment as they were done without consulting him as the chairman.

Haniff said they wanted the RoS to reply within seven days.

A copy of the letter was also sent to Muhyiddin and all supreme council members.

Dr Mahathir had offered his resignation party chairman on February 24, but the party supreme council rejected it. He also quit as prime minister that day.

Three days later, Dr Mahathir agreed to return as chairman, but the position has been in dispute since February 28 when Muhyiddin said he was also the acting chairman. 

Muhyiddin took over as prime minister on March 1 with the support of Umno, PAS, and Sarawak ruling GPS in a pact called Perikatan Nasional.

Dr Mahathir was returned unopposed as party chairman in March, while Muhyiddin is challenged by Mukhriz Mahathir for the president’s post.

The party elections have been postponed to after June due to the Covid-19 pandemic. – May 20, 2020.