Mukhriz asks why he, Dr Mahathir and others were dropped for not supporting Perikatan when Bersatu was only discussing joining the coalition now

KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 — Disputed Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir pointed out the incongruity of the party revoking his membership for failure to support Perikatan Nasional (PN) when its leadership was only now talking about joining the informal coalition.

Mukhriz, disputed Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and three others had their memberships revoked last month purportedly for failing to support the PN government.

“If the Bersatu supreme council was only last night discussing entry into PN, why were five Bersatu MPs expelled for not supporting the PN administration in Dewan Rakyat on May 18?” he wrote on Twitter.

He went on to ask why such a monumental decision was not put before the entire party and pointed out that rivals-turned-allies Umno and PAS had done so when they were considering a formal partnership.

Umno adopted a resolution on the matter during its annual assembly in September last year after opening the matter up to discussions while PAS deliberated on the alliance in its own version of the assembly in June of the same year.

“To make the important decision to leave PH (Pakatan Harapan) and join PN, why can’t Bersatu hold an EGM similar to Umno’s AGM and the PAS muktamar prior to them joining Muafakat Nasional?” the twice-former Kedah mentri besar added.

Last month, Bersatu organising secretary Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya notified Dr Mahathir, Mukhriz Mahathir, Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman and Maszlee Malik that their memberships were terminated as they sat on the Opposition bench on the May 18 meeting of Parliament.

This prompted disputed Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Marzuki Yahya to issue a termination letter to Muhammad Suhaimi for violating the party’s rules in the sacking.

Marzuki also challenged the party to show when it formally decided to leave PH and join PN since this was the given reason for revoking the five leaders’ memberships.

Bersatu leaders purport that the supreme council decided to quit PH on February 23 but leaked audio recordings from the same meeting suggest that it only decided to give Dr Mahathir a week to decide the matter.

On the night of February 23, however, the so-called “Sheraton Move” was executed with the apparent participation of Bersatu leaders including Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who was eventually appointed the prime minister.