Member of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Armizan Mohd Ali has denied being deceitful towards Bersatu as well as its president Muhyiddin Yassin.
Armizan, who is the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak), insists he is a direct member of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) “well before contesting in the 15th general election (GE15)”.
Despite emphasising that he is still a member of Sabah Bersatu as he has not announced his resignation from the party and had not submitted a resignation letter, he stressed that he joined GRS with the aspirations of the Sabah people in mind.
“No, there is no question of ‘playing in two ponds’ between Muhyiddin or Bersatu. Our target is the people of Sabah,” he said.
He was speaking during a press conference after a meeting with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) at the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) Headquarters in Puchong, Selangor, today.
“At the moment, the people’s sentiments is that our movement is as a local party. In Malaysia’s political landscape, we fight for the agenda of Sabah more effectively with a local coalition.
“No one spoke about going against the aspirations of the Sabah people. That’s why we founded and joined GRS at that time, as long as other parties were with us,” Armizan (above) said.
When asked for the exact date he joined GRS as a member, the Papar MP said he was uncertain but insisted his membership application was approved by GRS secretary-general Masidi Manjun in October.
“You must understand the uniqueness of the cooperation between GRS and Bersatu in Sabah.
“The establishment of GRS itself got the blessing from Bersatu, and the membership of Sabah Bersatu and GRS as a coalition received the blessings from Bersatu at that time.
“So as someone who was involved in the formation of GRS, of course, I wanted to be one of the first to become a member.”
He also claimed the Federal Constitution and Societies Act 1966 do not prevent anyone from becoming a member of several political parties.
“But, of course, it has to be with political parties that are in collaboration. I’m not a member of a political party that is not in line with other parties (within the same coalition).
“When GRS was established, Bersatu understood that although there was a (Sabah Bersatu) state chapter, we (GRS) were bringing the agenda of a local-based party,” he said.
Not joining Hajiji’s new party
Commenting on his membership with Bersatu, he said the party has yet to issue a notice to revoke his membership after he joined GRS.
“It is not up to me, Bersatu has to issue the notice. We must also remember, if there is a new party formed by (GRS chairperson) Hajiji (Noor), we cannot join the party. That is their movement.
“As MPs who won under GRS’ ticket, we will remain as members and leaders of GRS.”
On Tuesday (Dec 13), Perikatan Nasional (PN) deputy youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal hit back at the exodus of several GRS leaders from the coalition.
In an interview with BFM, Wan Fayhsal claimed the four MPs who publicly declared they were “exiting” Bersatu were still members of that party’s Sabah chapter when they contested in GE15.
However, he raised the possibility that the GRS membership application of the MPs was backdated.
Although GRS is known publicly as a coalition of five parties, in the eyes of the Registrar of Societies and the Election Commission, it is a normal political party.
GRS was formally registered on March 11. As a coalition, GRS fielded 12 candidates for the Nov 19 election of which six were successful.
Immediately after the election, GRS pledged allegiance to Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to serve as prime minister but their support wavered five days later - after PKR president Anwar Ibrahim secured the top job.
It took until Dec 10 for a group of 15 GRS assemblypersons and four MPs to publicly declare they were “exiting” Bersatu.
This led to claims that the four newly elected MPs have triggered the “anti-party-hopping laws” in Article 49A of the Federal Constitution and will have to vacate their seats.
Meanwhile, a Bersatu candidate for GE15 - Nixon Abdul Habi - claimed he and 11 other candidates discreetly signed up as GRS members in October.
This meant their membership in Bersatu was automatically terminated under Clause 10.2.3 of the party’s constitution, even before the Nov 19 general election.
The matter was kept away from public knowledge, he said. - Mkini
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