Bersatu MPs will be asked to renew their pledge of loyalty

PETALING JAYA: All Bersatu MPs still loyal to Perikatan Nasional will be instructed to renew their oath of allegiance to the coalition in front of party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

This was among the decisions made at a party emergency meeting on Nov 9 following the actions of four of its MPs who went rogue and switched allegiances to the unity government.

However, the party has not yet set a specific date for the MPs to renew their oaths, said party deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

Bersatu has 31 MPs under the Perikatan banner. However, four of them, the MPs of Labuan, Kuala Kangsar, Gua Musang and Jeli have announced that they are now supporting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim so as to receive constituency development funds.

The four however, have stated that they remain Bersatu members.

Ahmad Faizal said that the meeting was to ensure that no more of its MPs would follow the four.

The former Tambun MP added that during the meeting, Muhyiddin stressed that the party must have better security measures to stop further "betrayals”.

"Muhyiddin was the one who talked the most throughout the two hours, citing the need for the party to ensure that no more MPs should shift their allegiance and 'hop in spirit'.

"It was also agreed that all Bersatu MPs should take an oath in front of the president.

"The meeting was conducted in a calm manner but because it was hurriedly called, a few of the Supreme Council members were unable to attend,” said Ahmad Faizal when contacted.

He added that the party agreed that the Prime Minister's courting of opposition MPs showed that the unity government is "still shaky despite the two thirds majority it has in the Dewan Rakyat”.

"Why should Anwar be pinching MPs from the other side when he already has the formidable and convincing numbers?" said Ahmad Faizal.

Another Bersatu supreme council member said that the meeting also discussed possible reasons for the four's decision to shift their allegiance to the Prime Minister.

The official, who declined to be quoted, claimed that middle-men had offered the four money and if they refused, they would be hit by trumped-up corruption charges.

Anwar has refuted allegations that he had either met or sent representatives to meet the four MPs, while the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has also denied coercing any of the four.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that opposition MPs are welcome to negotiate with the government to access constituency development funds.

"(The meeting) was all very calm and there was no shouting or banging on the table, but the anger was there in the voices of the leaders who felt that the Bersatu MPs who shifted their allegiance had betrayed the party and shamed the grassroots members.

"The leaders said that now, they would have to explain to their division members and perhaps apologise,” said the official.

Another Bersatu leader said that meeting also discussed whether to apologise to Bersatu's partners Pas and Gerakan.

Following the meeting, it was reported that the party would call for a review of the anti-party hopping law, as the recent episode exposed critical weaknesses of the act that could still be exploited.

Muhyiddin also stated that the party would file police reports over suspected elements of corruption in the decision of the four MPs.