THE Kuala Lumpur High Court will decide on August 7 whether to allow Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s bid to strike out a suit by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and four others, who are challenging the loss of their party membership.

Should the strikeout bid fail, the court will on the same day deliver its ruling whether to allow Dr Mahathir’s application for an interim injunction to maintain the status quo on party appointments until the main suit is disposed of.

The two decisions are over interlocutory matters prior to a civil trial.

Dr Mahathir and five other former party leaders – former deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir, former Bersatu youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, former supreme council members Maszlee Malik, Amiruddin Hamzah and former secretary-general Marzuki Yahya – had filed papers on June 9 to sue Muhyiddin and other party leaders as well as the Registrar of Societies over wrongful termination.

The prime minister, along with Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin, former party organising secretary Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya and RoS director-general Masyati Abang Ibrahim, were accused of conspiring to seize power in the party. 

Syed Saddiq announced on Tuesday he has withdrawn all civil suits against his removal from Bersatu, saying he did not want to delay efforts to replace him in Bersatu.

Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, who represents Dr Mahathir and the others, confirmed Syed Saddiq is no longer a party to the main suit. 

“So whatever applications filed earlier on his behalf are no longer pending for him. It’s only pending for the others,” he told reporters after meeting in chambers with judge Rohani Ismail and Muhyiddin’s lawyers today.  

“As far as this suit is concerned, it doesn’t relate to Syed Saddiq. He is no more part of the suit. That is all. Anything more, you will have to ask him for the reasons.”

As for the interim injunction, Haniff said the plaintiffs sought, among others, orders to ensure the defendants do not carry out any act or conduct to further prejudice the position of the plaintiffs and the party.

“In other words, a court order to prevent them from entering into any decision with any other party with regard to election, and the position of the appointments. That is to be decided by the court (on August 7),” he said.

“The terms of the injunctive order is actually, in a gist, to preserve the status quo so that nobody is prejudiced until the court has the chance to hear it at trial.

“If the court finds merit as we argued, then it may grant either order in terms or in whatever version the court deems fit.”

Muhyiddin’s lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, said the judge heard their arguments that the party had not revoked the memberships of Mahathir and the others.

“It was their own act under Article 10.2.6 (of the party’s constitution) after Dr Mahathir’s resignation. They are not members anymore,” he told reporters.

“Some of the arguments centred around Section 18(c) of the Societies Act 1966 passed in Parliament in 1989 by none other than Dr Mahathir himself.

“Now, the very man who passed that law is saying Section 18(c) is not applicable,” he added.

Section 18(c) states that the decision of a political party on the interpretation of its constitution or on any matter relating to the affairs of the party is final and conclusive and cannot be challenged in court.

Rosli said Dr Mahathir’s suit was defective as the former prime minister said he was acting on behalf of Bersatu, and had named the party as one of the plaintiffs.

“No society shall sue in its own name, it shall sue through its office bearers,” the lawyer said.

“Our position is very straightforward. This is a frivolous and vexatious claim. There is no foundation to it. As far as we are concerned, all the facts are not in dispute.”

The five bringing the suit were sacked from the party on June 4 for sitting with the opposition bloc at the parliamentary meeting on May 18.

They want the court to declare the legitimacy of their party membership and positions. They also want the court to revoke the membership of Muhyiddin as well as Bersatu members who are in the cabinet or are heads of government-linked companies or both.

Dr Mahathir resigned as chairman on February 24, the same day he stepped down as prime minister, but his resignation as chairman became disputed within Bersatu as rival factions battled for legitimacy.

He was unopposed in nominations for the chairman’s post in party elections, which have been postponed to after June due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Muhyiddin, who is also the prime minister, is working with Umno and PAS in Perikatan Nasional, the ruling coalition formed after he took the party out of Pakatan Harapan in late February. He commands a slim majority support in Parliament thanks to his new allies.

The RoS, meanwhile, backed Muhyiddin’s assertion Dr Mahathir had given up the party chair in February, a claim the latter disputes on the basis his resignation had been rejected by the party. – July 9, 2020.