FOUR Sabah MPs who left Bersatu for Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) will be informing the speaker of parliament of their position if and when necessary, GRS secretary-general Masidi Manjun said today.

“GRS and the four MPs were fully aware of the anti-party hopping law that came into effect on October 5, 2022, before they stood as candidates for the general election.

“They will inform the Speaker of Parliament, if and when necessary of their position and will issue a statement accordingly.

“We are confident that they will not be affected,” he said.

The status of the four had come into question after GRS chairman Hajiji Mohd Noor, who is also state Bersatu chief, said they have left Bersatu and proposed the party’s elected reps become direct members of the coalition.

Following this, some parties questioned the validity of their status as MPs, saying that they should not have been eligible to stand for election upon leaving Bersatu.

However, sources close to the four MPs told the Malaysian Insight that they had not mentioned leaving Bersatu and were not were not present during Hajiji’s announcement.

“They have not made any official statement to say that they have left or are leaving Bersatu,” said a source.

Meanwhile, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin said the quartet were in breach of article 49A of the Federal Constitution, which meant they would have to resign their seats.

However, political analyst Wong Chin Huat of Sunway University said the MPs stood on a GRS ticket and were thus not bound by the act.

He added that anti-party hopping law does not apply to the men as long as they stay with GRS for the duration of their term of office.

“The law governs those who are elected to the House of Representatives as a member of a political party,” he said, arguing that the four had not stood for election as Bersatu candidates.

“Sabah Bersatu and STAR planned long ago to have dual GRS-Perikatan Nasional (PN) membership and that the members would stand under GRS.

“As long as the men stay in GRS, the anti-party hopping law doesn’t apply to them,” Wong told The Malaysian Insight.

Bersatu has 14 state seats but the Sabah assembly has yet to adopt the anti-party hopping law.

The four MPs who have left Bersatu are: Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Matbali Musah (Sipitang), Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar) and Jonathan Yassin (Ranau).

Ronald Kiandee was the only Bersatu MP to be elected in last month’s general election.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said she was waiting for an official report from the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the status of the four men in question.

She said under article 49A of the Federal Constitution, the Dewan Rakyat speaker will have 21 days to decide. – December 12, 2022.