FORMER minister in charge of parliament and law, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, has said four Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) MPs at the centre of a party-hopping controversy are not obliged to give up their seats.

“Having been informed by various reliable sources today, the four MPs had left Bersatu in early October, 2022, before contesting in the election, in November,” Wan Junaidi said in a statement.

“In which case, I have to agree with Sabah constitutional lawyer Tengku Fuad Ahmad that the anti-party hopping law does not affect them.”

Wan Junaidi was responding to a brewing row over Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, Matbali Musah, Armizan Mohd Ali and Jonathan Yassin, who won seats in parliament campaigning on a GRS ticket.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has said that this is in breach of anti-party hopping legislation, given that the four were previously members of his party, and is demanding they be stripped of their parliamentary positions. – December 12, 2022.