Anwar's the one who doesn't understand Constitution: Muhyiddin

It is Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, not Bersatu, who has failed to understand the Federal Constitution, party president Muhyiddin Yassin asserts.

This is after Anwar accused Bersatu’s leadership of cherry-picking the Constitution when objecting to a ruling by Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul not to vacate the seats of six former Bersatu MPs.

“I want to ask Anwar, which part (of the Constitution) did I not read?” Muhyiddin said in a statement today.

He said Article 49A - the anti-hopping law - clearly states that an MP who ceases to be a member of their party will lose their seat.

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Muhyiddin said Bersatu’s rule that any MPs who fail to abide by the party supreme council’s directives have forfeited their membership is in line with the constitutional provision.

In the case of the six former Bersatu MPs, they were told to retract their support for Anwar but refused to do so, hence they ceased to be a member and their seats needed to be vacated.

“I understand the constitutional provision. The one who doesn’t understand it is Anwar,” Muhyiddin added.

Anwar had defended Johari’s decision as being in accordance with the Federal Constitution. 

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He also blamed Bersatu for objecting to a clause that would have seen MPs sacked from their parties losing their seats when the anti-hopping law was being drafted.

Similar party rules now defective?

The exemption of sacked MPs from the anti-hopping law had led DAP, Umno, and other parties to form party rules in which MPs who went against the party are considered to have forfeited their membership.

This was meant to trigger the anti-hopping clause for MPs who leave their party.

Bersatu had formed a similar rule after the six MPs supported Anwar without leaving the party.

Johari, in rejecting the bid to vacate five of the six seats, however, argued that Bersatu's forfeiture clause went against the Federal Constitution and Parliament’s guarantees that MPs have the freedom to speak, debate, and vote.

The speaker did not mention the timing of when Bersatu enacted the rule in justifying his ruling.

The ruling could mean that the loophole plugs employed by DAP and Umno, which are similar to Bersatu’s, are also defective.

Meanwhile, in the case of Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman - one of the six - Johari said he would not make a ruling to avoid interfering with legal proceedings as the lawmaker is challenging his expulsion in court.

This sets a precedent that MPs can delay a ruling on whether their seats are vacated by filing suits against their parties. - Mkini