PETALING JAYA: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul will deliver his decision on the status of the parliamentary seats of four Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) MPs who quit Sabah Bersatu on Monday (Jan 16).
"I will release the decision tomorrow," he said in a brief reply when contacted on Sunday (Jan 15).
Johari said last week that a decision would be finalised on the fate of the four lawmakers on Friday (Jan 13) and the four would be notified in writing.
The decision will be on whether the four lawmakers who remained as members of GRS after quitting Bersatu would get to keep their parliamentary seats.
The four are Papar MP and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali; Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi); Datuk Matbali Musah (Sipitang); and Datuk Jonathan Yassin (Ranau).
In the 15th General Election last November, six candidates from Bersatu contested in Sabah under the GRS logo in Kudat, Papar, Sipitang, Ranau, Batu Sapi, and Semporna.
On Dec 29, Bersatu vice-president Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said the party had sent a notice to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker about the vacancies of the four parliamentary seats occupied by its former members.
He said that former Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had on Nov 2 made a public announcement that six (of the 13) GRS candidates were from Bersatu.
Johari had 21 days to respond and act on the notice.
According to Kiandee, a letter from Sabah Bersatu to Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin dated Nov 3 also showed that the four were contesting as members of Bersatu.
However, Kiandee said that on Dec 10, Hajiji announced that Sabah Bersatu party leaders, including its MPs, had left the party, citing consideration of the current political landscape.
Kiandee had said that the act of the four MPs sitting on the government bloc in the Dewan Rakyat under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is an act of "crossing the floor".
"Their membership in Bersatu has lapsed in accordance with the party constitution. They must cease to be members of the Dewan Rakyat and their seats should be vacated," he added.
