Dr M, 5 others file suit to nullify PPBM membership termination

(FMT) – Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and five other PPBM leaders whose memberships were terminated by the party last month, filed a suit in the High Court here today to nullify the decision.

They named PPBM president and acting chairman Muhyiddin Yassin, secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin, working secretary Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya and Registrar of Societies (RoS) director-general Masyati Abang Ibrahim as the defendants in the civil action.

Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdullah said the statement of claim was filed this afternoon.

Besides Mahathir, his son Mukhriz, former ministers Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Maszlee Malik, former deputy minister Amiruddin Hamzah and Marzuki Yahya, as well as PPBM were named as plaintiffs.

They contended that the decision to terminate their membership was invalid as Suhaimi has no powers to remove them from PPBM, and his position is also not recognised under the party’s constitution.

“Our termination was based on the grounds that we defied the party by sitting at the opposition bloc in the Dewan Rakyat.

“It is incorrect to invoke Articles 10.2.2 or 10.2.2 of the PPBM constitution against us because both provisions state that members who join another political party or resign from PPBM will have their memberships ceased,” they said, adding that they did not leave PPBM.

They also claimed that Muhyiddin had “wrongly” used his powers in announcing that he was the PPBM acting chairman on Feb 28.

“He later made the announcement for PPBM to leave Pakatan Harapan based on a Feb 24 decision by the supreme council.

“We contended that there was no decision made by supreme council members for that purpose,” they said.

They said an emergency supreme council meeting was held on Feb 25 and decided for Mahathir to remain as chairman.

“However, the first defendant (Muhyiddin) came out with a statement on Feb 28, announcing he will be acting chairman and this contravened the supreme council decision,” they said.

They alleged that Muhyiddin also “restructured” positions in the supreme council leadership by “setting aside or abolishing” involvement by several individuals who did not support Muhyiddin’s leadership.

“We will adduce evidence during the course of action to support this claim,” they said.

Besides reinstatement, they are seeking to nullify the memberships of Muhyiddin, Hamzah, and Suhaimi on grounds that they joined the Perikatan Nasional coalition.

Earlier this month, the supreme council affirmed the termination of the plaintiffs’ memberships.

Mahathir, Mukhriz, Syed Saddiq, Maszlee and Amiruddin rejected their termination and affirmed they did not breach the party’s constitution to sit with the opposition bloc.