The Bersatu supreme council is expected to meet tomorrow but party chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad and deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir are not invited.
Several party sources told Malaysiakini that there are efforts to move against Mahathir and his son Mukhriz, with a worst-case scenario resulting in their sacking.
Muhyiddin Yassin's faction had secured justification to act after both Mahathir and Mukhriz publicly criticised the Bersatu president's decision to abandon Harapan and form the Perikatan Nasional government with Umno, PAS, GPS and other minor parties.
Bersatu supreme council member Abu Bakar Yahya, who is aligned to Mahathir, took to Facebook to question the manoeuvring.
"We the supreme council members received an invitation to attend the Bersatu supreme council meeting.
"But in the invitation, the chairperson and deputy president were not invited. We were not informed of the meeting's agenda.
"Is the meeting intended to sack (certain Bersatu leaders)?" he asked.
The invitation, sighted by Malaysiakini, said it will take place at the Universiti Malaya Alumni Association building in Kuala Lumpur at noon tomorrow.
A source within Mahathir's inner circle who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the Langkawi MP has also caught wind of the movement.
"If they are really doing that (sack Mahathir and Mukhriz), it will be quite unfair and crazy to do without allowing them to defend themselves," said the source.
Pre-meeting to set agenda
Separate party sources told Malaysiakini that Bersatu supreme council members aligned to Muhyiddin had already convened a separate meeting yesterday to outline their game plan for the meeting proper tomorrow.
"The meeting yesterday did not invite Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, Marzuki Yahya, Tariq Ismail Mustafa and others aligned to Tun," said the source.
The source said the purpose of the meeting yesterday was to outline the agenda and likely decision with the expectation that the meeting tomorrow can just rubberstamp it.
"The meeting yesterday was to decide on the decision that will be made tomorrow," said the source.
The party source added that Muhyiddin was present during the meeting but it was a senior Bersatu leader who defected from Umno after the 14th general election who took the lead.
Among the agenda pushed by the senior Bersatu leader was to determine the fate of Mahathir and Mukhriz.
However, for the meeting tomorrow, all Bersatu supreme council, including those aligned to Mahathir, were invited. The only two omitted were Mahathir and Mukhriz.
Meanwhile, Bersatu supreme council member A Kadir Jasin (photo), who is aligned to Mahathir, said he is unaware of any plan to act against Mahathir or Mukhriz.
He added that even if there is one, the Bersatu supreme council is not empowered to do so.
"If going by the party's constitution, the supreme council have no powers to sack any members.
"Any disciplinary actions including sacking must be referred to the disciplinary committee," said Kadir, adding that he has yet to decide whether to attend the meeting.
The chatter about Bersatu taking action against Mahathir and Mukhriz comes amid concurrent movements in Kedah where a plan is afoot to remove Mukhriz as the state menteri besar.
Kedah MB ouster in the works
Earlier today, PAS and Umno assemblypersons in Kedah met on the possibility of replacing Mukhriz as menteri besar.
Yesterday, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan (photo), who is also the de facto law minister, had also met with Kedah police chief Zainuddin Yaacob at the state police contingent headquarters.
The movement in Kedah came after state PAS commissioner on May 7 said a change of government in Kedah was inevitable.
He claimed Mukhriz had lost the support of more than half of Bersatu assemblypersons in Kedah.
Mukhriz, who is also Bersatu deputy president, has maintained the Pakatan Harapan government in Kedah even though Muhyiddin had taken Bersatu out of the coalition. t
Mukhriz has a fragile majority in Kedah with 19 seats to the 17 seats controlled by PAS and Umno.
Harapan contributes 13 seats to Mukhriz's government comprising seven from PKR, four from Amanah and two from DAP while Bersatu has six seats.
Muhyiddin has given the go-ahead for the replacement of Harapan governments to PN in Johor, Malacca and Perak but has yet to make a move in Kedah.
However, a change is increasingly likely as Mukhriz's father Mahathir appears to be manoeuvring against Muhyiddin.
Bersatu is presently split between Muhyiddin's faction and Mahathir's faction.
The Harapan government collapsed in late February after Muhyiddin took Bersatu out of the coalition and joined forces with a group of PKR defectors led by former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.
Together with the opposition, they formed the new PN federal government.
Mahathir had indicated he plans to wrest back control of the party in the next Bersatu election and withdraw the party from the PN government. - Mkini
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