KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has sacked Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan and suspended Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s party membership for one term.
Both have been informed of the decision, and they will have 14 days to appeal, according to a statement from the party’s disciplinary board on Tuesday. The board is also expelling four other members for violating the party’s constitution and its code of ethics and conduct, it noted.
“The board’s decision was based on investigations conducted and due consideration. The decision was reached without any external interference and in an impartial manner,” the statement read.
Following his expulsion, Wan Saiful will now serve as an independent MP but will retain his seat under the anti-hopping law. Bersatu will now be left with 24 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.
While the statement did not specify details of their alleged violations, the action comes amid a recent “statutory declaration movement” reportedly aimed at pressuring party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to hand over leadership to his deputy, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
Wan Saiful, who is also a Bersatu supreme council member, has denied claims that he masterminded a move to unseat Muhyiddin, insisting that the statutory declarations signed by 120 division chiefs were meant to support a succession plan agreed upon last year.
Wan Fayhsal has likewise denied involvement in the power struggle, saying only that it was related to “internal party matters concerning the previous election.”