THERE is no provision in the Bersatu constitution that specifies where its MPs can or cannot sit, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad and four other sacked Bersatu MPs.

In a statement, the former prime minister and Bersatu chairman – together with former deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir, former youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, former supreme council member Dr Maszlee Malik and Amiruddin Hamzah – said they chose to sit with the opposition in the May 18 Parliamentary sitting because the government, led by Prime Minister and party president Muhyiddin Yassin, had betrayed the voters’ mandate.

“We never announced we were quitting Bersatu or were joining other political parties.

“Our decision not to support Muhyiddin’s government does not mean we have left the party,” they said in the statement.

They said Bersatu organising secretary Suhaimi Yahya, who issued them their membership termination letters, also did not have the authority to remove members without first referring them to the party’s disciplinary committee.

“The accused must be given the chance to defend themselves.”

On May 28, Bersatu said the five MPs’ memberships had been “stopped” because they sat on the opposition bench in Parliament on May 18.

Muhyiddin subsequently reiterated the five were not sacked but that their memberships had been “stopped” because of that decision.

The five today said Muhyiddin was also wrong to have taken Bersatu out of Pakatan Harapan as the decision was not endorsed by the party’s supreme council.

“The government today wasn’t chosen by voters and the right belongs to PH. Restore voters mandate and don’t bow down to Muhyiddin’s wishes,” they said. – June 2, 2020.