NILAI: Bersatu cannot be expelled from Perikatan Nasional unless every component party agrees to it, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said, dismissing suggestions the party could be booted out.
Speaking to reporters after launching Bersatu's Negri Sembilan election manifesto on Saturday (July 25), the party president said the coalition's constitution required consensus to remove any member.
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"Under Perikatan's constitution, to sack any party, you must get the consensus of all members. We are still a member. If even one member does not agree, it cannot be done. That is what is in the constitution," he said at a press conference.
He was responding to a claim by Parti Wawasan Negara election director Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, that Bersatu would soon be expelled from Perikatan.
Muhyiddin also questioned Chegubard's standing to make the claim: "Who is this Chegubard? Is he a member of Perikatan's top leadership council?" he asked, adding that the activist was in no position to decide the matter.
The former Perikatan chairman said the party was not weighing any such move for now as it was focused on the Aug 1 Negri Sembilan polls, but had not ruled out examining its own legal options.
He said Bersatu had lawyers studying whether other parties had breached the Perikatan constitution, citing what he described as the denial of Bersatu's right to be consulted on seat allocation as a possible example.
"I am not saying we will take action.
"But if we study it and find there are strong grounds, such as denying our right to be consulted on seat distribution, we will look into whether that is a violation," he added
Bersatu is contesting the Aug 1 Negri Sembilan election on its own, outside the no-clash arrangement between Barisan Nasional and Perikatan. A total of 889,490 voters are eligible to cast ballots, with early voting on July 28.
The party will contest 24 out of 36 seats in the state election, clashing with Barisan Nasional, which is contesting 25 seats, and Perikatan Nasional, contesting 11 seats.
Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan will field candidates in all 36 seats.
