PAS challenges Melaka speaker to declare Rembia seat vacant

 

PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said there was no issue of the Rembia assemblyman violating the anti-hopping law.

PETALING JAYA: 

PAS has challenged the Melaka state assembly speaker to declare the Rembia seat vacant if the party’s decision to admit Rembia assemblyman Jailani Khamis as a member violates the anti-hopping law.

PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said such a declaration by Melaka state assembly Speaker Ibrahim Durum would enable a by-election to be held.

However, he argued that Jailani’s entry into PAS in June 2023 did not violate the anti-hopping law as the Melaka state assembly only enacted its anti-hopping law on July 31, 2023.

With his entry into PAS, he no longer remains an Umno member. There is no issue of him violating the anti-hopping law, especially at the Melaka state assembly level,

 he told FMT.

Earlier today, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said Jailani, who was suspended from Umno, joined PAS last June.

When asked why he was announcing Jailani’s foray into PAS only today, he said: 

That’s our strategy, we can’t reveal it. It’s now the right time for us.

Jailani’s defection to PAS brings the number of opposition members in the Melaka assembly to three.

He joined Umno in June 2021 after leaving PKR and defended the Rembia seat under the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket in the same year’s state election.

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh earlier today questioned PAS’s stand on party hopping, stating that while the Islamic party was 

incensed

 that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul had refused to vacate the seats of six MPs who had ceased to be Bersatu members, the party had now welcomed a political 

frog

 who supported them.

On Wednesday, Johari said Bersatu’s removal of the six members, who declared support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, did not amount to party-hopping under the law and the six MPs were not required to vacate their seats.

The six MPs are Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang).

Previously, several PAS leaders, including deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, had said Johari’s decision was unconstitutional.

Echoing Fadhli’s sentiments today, PAS ulama chief Ahmad Yahaya said Jailani’s situation differed from that of the six former Bersatu MPs who continued to support Anwar after the amendments to Bersatu’s constitution and the enactment of the anti-hopping law.

Meanwhile, Fadhli challenged elected representatives, especially Akmal, to join Perikatan Nasional, saying they could contest under the coalition’s banner if their seats were vacated and by-elections held.

Abandon the sinking Barisan Nasional ship before it’s too late,

 he said. - FMT