Faisal rejects Kiandee’s call for sackings over confidence pact

Bersatu has rejected a call for the expulsion of those who signed a confidence and supply arrangement with the government coalition, saying it could not be compared to the expulsion of six MPs in 2024.

Information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz said the termination of memberships of the six and suspension of two others was for violating the party constitution. However, those who signed the confidence arrangement did so following a decision by the Bersatu supreme council.

He was responding to suspended Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee, who in a Facebook post this evening questioned the decision by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and five other MPs to sign the confidence and supply agreement.

Kiandee said that since the six former Bersatu MPs were sacked for backing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, those who signed the confidence arrangement yesterday should also have their memberships automatically terminated.

However, Tun Faisal said Bersatu took action against the six for violating the party constitution and disobeying written instructions from the party.

“The six Bersatu MPs who signed the CSA with the government today did so following a decision by the Bersatu supreme council,” he said. “Their circumstances are a little different from those of the two Bersatu MPs who were suspended and the six who were sacked by Bersatu’s disciplinary board.”

Tun Faisal said the “supporters of Hamzah Zainudin who are now in Wawasan” were penalised for signing statutory declarations calling for the president’s resignation and negotiating with other parties without the party’s permission, among other things.

The six MPs who signed yesterday’s agreement were party president Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh), Radzi Jidin (Putrajaya), Ali Biju (Saratok), Suhaimi Abdullah (Langkawi), Nazri Abu Hassan (Merbok) and Azman Nasrudin (Padang Serai).

The deal was also signed by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and the six former Bersatu MPs who were sacked by the party in 2024 for declaring their support for the government.