JOHOR BARU, Aug 30 — The Johor Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) will leave it to the party leadership to deal with Datuk Osman Sapian after a video, which has gone viral, showed the former Johor Mentri Besar allegedly campaigning for an Independent candidate at the recent Slim state by-election.

Its chairman Mazlan Bujang said they, at the state liaison level, had no authority to take action against any member who flouted party rules.

"Let Tan Sri (Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin), through the committee (disciplinary board) make whatever decision.

"Disciplinary matters come under the party’s disciplinary board, so we at the state level do not have any comments to make regarding this matter. Everything depends on the management to take action. If the video recording is authentic, they (the disciplinary board) will investigate. Then it’s up to Tan Sri Muhyiddin and he can order for it to be checked or investigated,” said Mazlan.

Mazlan, who is also Johor Education, Information, Heritage and Culture Committee chairman, said this when met by reporters at the closing ceremony of the 2020 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Merdeka Convoy here today.

Yesterday, a video went viral showing Osman, who is also the Ayer Hitam Bersatu Division head, supposedly speaking at a campaign supporting Independent candidate Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi at the Slim by-election.

In the video, Osman is said to have admitted to be the Kempas state assemblyman on the Bersatu ticket and that he was still a member of the party, but alleged that Bersatu had strayed from its original struggles.   

Previously, Osman had claimed that his presence in Slim, Perak, was to meet up with old friends while on holiday and stressed that it had nothing to do with politics.

Mazlan, meanwhile, has urged all parties not to be quick to jump to conclusions, especially regarding internal party matters.

"We shall follow the accurate source. If it’s true that there has been misconduct, then we need to give (the person) a chance to explain. We must be mature when dealing with this situation,” he said. — Bernama