The ball is at the feet of Dewan Rakyat Speaker

Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul is stuck between a rock and a hard place on the question of whether six Bersatu parliamentary seats should be declared vacant.

WILL the Dewan Rakyat Speaker go with the spirit of the Constitution, or will he take the political road?

That is the question on everyone’s mind as he decides on the fate of the six errant Bersatu MPs when Parliament convenes on Monday.

Tan Sri Johari Abdul has faced many tricky situations in the hot seat, but the seat will be at its hottest going by the way that Bersatu politicians have turned on the pressure for him to declare the seats vacant.

Much is at stake for both sides of the divide. There is the numbers game, the image and reputation of political parties are on the line and, most of all, principles will be tested.

Bersatu, which feels betrayed by the actions of its six MPs, is itching to reaffirm its Malay support in the event of by-elections being called.

The party feels it is on the right side of the law and, as Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu put it, it will be a test of the sincerity of all MPs who had voted for the Anti-Hopping legislation that was passed via the federal constitution.

The burden on Johari is immense. Although the chair is supposed to be impartial, Johari is expected to look out for the interests of the coalition that nominated him for the post.

“He is between a rock and a hard place. The government side will be upset if he declares the seats vacant. If he stands by those MPs, the uproar will not only come from the opposition bench but the entire country,” said a former ministerial aide who is all too familiar with the politics that goes on in Parliament.

Nobody, said the aide, appreciates a disloyal party member or party-hopper, and Pakatan Harapan MPs championed the landmark Anti-Hopping law, which took effect on Oct 5, 2022.

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

They had pledged loyalty to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and refused to budge when Bersatu sent out a fresh notice to all its elected representatives asking them to pledge allegiance to the party.

The Speaker was notified on Thursday that the six had ceased to be members of Bersatu. Under Article 49A of the Federal Constitution, he must decide whether the seats should be declared vacant within 21 days.

Parliament will be in session from June 24 to July 18, and Johari can choose to make decisions quickly or take his time while ignoring the elephant in the room. However, with each day of delay, the noise from the opposition bench and on social media rises to a crescendo.

The Speaker will have to come up with a convincing argument if he decides not to declare the seats vacant. However, that would make a mockery of the Anti-Hopping legislation and add to the list of the government’s unfulfilled commitments.

“This is our family matter. They have violated Article 10.4 of our party constitution and are no longer members of Bersatu,” said Ahmad Faizal.

Bersatu has been rather strategic and calculated in building momentum. Its partner, PAS, declared the Nenggiri state seat vacant earlier this week, setting the precedent and ramping up the pressure.

Kelantan state assembly Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah stressed that the state’s Anti-Hopping legislation passed in November 2022 was identical to the federal version. He said it would be strange if Parliament did not act similarly.

Selangor Perikatan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Azmin Ali followed suit on Friday, serving notice on the Selat Klang seat held by Datuk Abdul Rasid Asari.

On top of that, former Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Harun told a podcast hosted by Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan that, according to the Societies Act, a political party’s interpretation of its own constitution is final and the Speaker cannot reinterpret it.

Azhar, a lawyer, also claimed that the court cannot question a party’s constitution.

On the other hand, there are contrary views that Bersatu is shifting the goalposts in the middle of the game and that they have erred in imposing the rules retrospectively.

It is hard to second-guess Johari, who was quite a savvy politician in his heydays as an MP from Kedah and is known as a true-blue PKR man even after resigning from the party to become the Speaker.

Perikatan will be pacified if Johari declares the seats vacant, although Nenggiri assemblyman Mohd Azizi Abu Naim, who is also Gua Musang MP and several of the other MPs have indicated they will turn to the courts.

Parliament sittings have become better known for partisan politicking, unremarkable debates and bad behaviour than for making laws. As such, cynics say they would not be shocked if Parliament chooses not to declare the seats vacant.

Should that happen, Bersatu leaders could also take their cause to the courts.

The errant MPs will likely try to delay their case until the end of 2025 when the requirement to hold by-elections expires.

“The Speaker should get this out of the way and get on with the business of Parliament because this sitting has nothing major, and it could be about politics all the way.

“There is no need to add to the politicking over eggs and diesel, and there is also a critical by-election going on,” said the above aide to a former minister.

The issue is actually quite awkward for the Pakatan side because any show of support for the six MPs would be equated to encouraging party-hopping.

The MPs are also unlikely to get Pakatan’s endorsement to contest the seats even if by-elections are called because Umno had already laid claim to the seats.

The ball is at the feet of Johari, and it is up to him to make it a beautiful game, as they say in football or otherwise.