KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia is reportedly planning to amend its constitution at the start of the party’s annual general assembly this Thursday to prevent its members from supporting opposing parties.
Utusan Malaysia, quoting a senior Bersatu leader who declined to be named, said the party’s proposed amendment may be similar to the one brought up at the last meet in March, which was rejected by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) due to technical problems.
“During the assembly held at Menara PGRM here, we tried to amend the constitution by strengthening the clause stating if a party member supports an opposing party, he or she must resign their position.
“If the party member in question is an MP, he or she must also vacate their seat,” the party leader was quoted as saying in the report.
Back then, the amendment did not pass as the party’s permanent chairman did not announce the presence of a two-thirds majority in support of it.
“On the other hand, RoS said there was no two-thirds majority support required in the constitution and the matter was not amended.
“So, we will bring the same proposal to the annual general assembly again this time,” he reportedly added.
Previously, four Bersatu MPs had declared their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the federal administration.
On October 12, Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid was the first to throw his backing for Anwar, followed by Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman on October 30, Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim on November 7 and on November 9 Jeli MP Zahari Kechik followed suit.
All four Perikatan Nasional (PN) elected lawmakers said they did so to ensure that federal funds would continue to flow for the welfare of their constituents.
As a result of their actions, Bersatu’s leadership suspended their membership for six years.
Bersatu’s annual general assembly will be held at the Ideal Convention Centre in Shah Alam from this Thursday to Saturday.
