FOUR former Bersatu lawmakers in the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) have vacated their seats, Ronald Kiandee said.

Its state chapter chairman said Bersatu had sent a notice to the Dewan Rakyat speaker that there were vacancies involving the MPs who had contested in the general election as Bersatu members.

The four are Armizan Mohd Ali (Papar), Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Matbali Musah (Sipitang).

Ronald said the four have triggered article 49A(3) of the Federal Constitution, which covers anti-party hopping, and, thus, their seats are now deemed vacant.

Article 49A states that a member of a political party who was elected to parliament shall cease to be a member of the House of Representatives and that member’s seat shall become vacant immediately if such a member resigns his or her party membership or ceases to be a member.

“As a result, they are no longer Bersatu members in accordance with Bersatu’s constitution, and this matter has been notified to the four lawmakers through Bersatu’s letter dated December 21,” he said in a statement, which he posted on his Facebook page.

The Bersatu vice-president noted that the four had sat with the government bloc during the parliament meeting on December 19 and 20.

He said Bersatu has told Speaker Johari Abdul to notify the Election Commission (EC) of the matter within 21 days of receipt of the notice.

He said the vacancies will have to be filled within 60 days from the date the EC receives the notification from the speaker.

On December 10, Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, who is GRS chairman, said Sabah Bersatu leaders had unanimously decided to leave Bersatu but would remain under GRS.

He said GRS-Barisan Nasional has also taken the advice of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the formation of a unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for political stability and economic recovery.

“This unanimous decision is in the interest of Sabah, for the unity and aspirations of the people for us to continue fighting under the auspices of a local party,” he said.

“With this decision, we will use GRS to voice the interests of Sabah and the states of Borneo in Malaysia.”

Subsequently, Armizan, who is a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs and who was involved in drafting the GRS constitution, said the coalition had provisions for individuals to be its direct members and for a union of parties.

He reiterated that he joined GRS as a direct member in October, before the November 19 general election and his position as MP was not affected by the anti-hopping law.

Asked why he joined GRS when he was still a member of Bersatu, Armizan said the Federal Constitution and Societies Act 1966 did not forbid people from joining several political parties.

Armizan said he has not received any notification from Bersatu regarding the status of his membership in the party. – December 29, 2022.