No one above the law, PPBM defends decision on Dr M

PPBM secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin explaining the decision to terminate Dr Mahathir Mohamad and four others as party members in Petaling Jaya today.

PETALING JAYA: PPBM secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin today defended the party’s decision to terminate the membership of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and four other MPs, while expressing regret that the five had sat with the opposition bloc during the May 18 Dewan Rakyat sitting.

“This is in accordance with the party constitution because the interest of the party is above any individual.

“No one is above the law when the party has its own constitution,” Hamzah told reporters at a press conference, just an hour after Mahathir held his own at the PPBM headquarters.

He stressed that according to two clauses in the party’s constitution, an individual’s membership would be immediately terminated if they either leave the party or defect to another party.

Apart from Mahathir, the others who had their memberships nullified were Mahathir’s son Mukhriz, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Amiruddin Hamzah and Maszlee Malik.

Hamzah also revealed that there had been several complaints lodged against Mahathir.

This included Mahathir declaring that he would remain with Pakatan Harapan after the Perikatan Nasional government was formed under PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin.

Mahathir had also issued a joint statement with leaders from PH urging for the recent Dewan Rakyat sitting to be extended to more than one day.

Mahathir, he said, had also sought a motion of no confidence against Muhyiddin.

“And on May 18, he held a press conference at the Perdana Leadership Foundation, along with other PH leaders, where he vowed to topple Muhyiddin as the prime minister.”

Hamzah said the chairman of the party’s disciplinary board, Megat Najimuddin Megat Khas, had informed him it was no longer relevant to raise the issue with the board.

“This is because their memberships had been terminated under the two clauses in the party’s constitution,” he said.

Hamzah’s explanation comes on the heels of Mahathir’s insistence that he is still the chairman of PPBM.

Mahathir, who chose to sit with the opposition during the May 18 Dewan Rakyat sitting, denied that he had acted against the party constitution.

Hamzah also said that any statement or directive issued by Marzuki Yahya was invalid as he was no longer the PPBM secretary-general and had abused his position.

He called on PPBM members to close ranks and back Muhyiddin as the president, the party’s acting chairman and prime minister. - FMT