KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia‘s (BERSATU) deputy president, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, has been expelled from the party with immediate effect.
BERSATU’s secretary-general, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, in a statement, said that the party’s Supreme Council had been informed of the decision by the Disciplinary Board, which ruled that Hamzah’s membership rights be terminated under Clause 22.5 of the BERSATU constitution.
He said the decision was made after the Larut Member of Parliament (MP) was found to have breached Clause 9.1.4 of the party constitution.
Hamzah won the deputy president post unopposed for the 2024-2027 term after no challenger emerged during the party elections in October last year.
BERSATU, a member of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, has been gripped by an internal crisis, marked by a rift between the camps aligned with its president, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and Hamzah, with both sides reportedly calling for the other to step down.
The conflict intensified after Muhyiddin resigned as PN chairman, a move that opened the way for an internal power struggle between the two main factions.
In November last year, Hamzah was reported as saying that Muhyiddin would relinquish the party presidency when he was ready.
Recent turmoil within BERSATU has also been linked to efforts to position Hamzah as party president.
Tasek Gelugor MP, Wan Saiful Wan Jan, was expelled from the party over his alleged involvement in the issue and later released an audio recording of BERSATU’s disciplinary board proceedings against him on Nov 3, which he claimed supported allegations that Hamzah was the real target.
Yesterday, media reports said 17 Bersatu division chiefs and party leaders in Johor had called for Hamzah to be expelled from both his party post and membership.
Today, 16 BERSATU MPs voiced support for a call by the party’s chief whip, Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee, for Muhyiddin instead to step down immediately as party president.
So far, BERSATU has sacked a total of 17 leaders, comprising five MPs, including Hamzah, two assemblymen, and 10 division chiefs.
The other four MPs who were sacked were Gerik MP, Fathul Huzir Ayob; Padang Rengas MP, Azahari Hasan; Machang MP, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, a Supreme Council member who had been suspended from the party since October; and Indera Mahkota MP, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah, who was sacked from the party last January.
Two other Supreme Council members who had been sacked were Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin, who is also the four-term Sungai Manik assemblyman, and Dr Yadzil Yaakub, the Melaka opposition leader. – BERNAMA
