Dr Mahathir’s lawyer warns of legal action if sacking by Bersatu upheld

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — The lawyer for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Bersatu’s move to expel him and four other leaders for sitting in the Opposition bench during the May 18 Parliament meeting was invalid.

Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said their termination according to clauses 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the party's constitution was baseless and insisted that all five are still legitimate members of PPBM.

Haniff claimed Bersatu organising secretary Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya breached the party’s rules by sending out the termination letters to Dr Mahathir and four others.

He disputed the validity of Suhaimi’s position, noting that the Bersatu constitution did not provide for an executive secretary.

“As the party’s executive he has no executive power to make any decisions nor execute matters relating to the party's constitution on his own, as he so did by sending the five letters on May 28 2020,” Haniff said in a statement.

“He has also failed or refuses to divulge who ordered him to send those five letters and if that person had the authority to ask him to do so.

“Nevertheless, clauses 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the party’s constitution cannot be invoked automatically like what Suhaimi has done.

“As such we are considering legal action and will do so under the advice of Dr Mahathir and the others.”

Yesterday,Suhaimi issued five individual letters addressed to Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir, Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Kubang Pasu MP Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, and Simpang Renggam MP Maszlee Malik.

In the five letters, Bersatu informed the five that their party membership had ceased with immediate effect, due to their decision to sit in the federal Opposition bloc during the May 18 Dewan Rakyat proceedings instead of the government bloc with MPs supporting the Perikatan Nasional administration led by prime minister and Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Bersatu cited Articles 10.2.2 and 10.2.3 of the party constitution to justify the decision to end the five’s membership, with the two provisions respectively stating that a party member’s membership will cease immediately if they declare that they quit the party or if they join or become a member of any other political parties in the country.