PETALING JAYA: Four Bersatu MPs have lodged a report with the Registrar of Societies, urging it to investigate whether the party’s Supreme Council still has the quorum required under its constitution to hold meetings.
The four – Zakri Hassan (Kangar), Kalam Salan (Sabak Bernam), Roslan Hashim (Kulim Bandar Baharu) and Muslimin Yahaya (Sungai Besar) – are among a group of Bersatu MPs aligned with their former deputy president, Hamzah Zainudin, and have faced disciplinary action since his expulsion from the party on Feb 13.
In a three-page letter addressed to RoS director-general Zulfikar Ahmad, they claimed that Bersatu’s Supreme Council no longer had the required quorum following “dismissals, suspensions and resignations involving more than half of the council members”.
They said the issue was significant because any decision made by the Supreme Council could directly affect them as Bersatu MPs, including matters relating to the anti-party hopping law.
They could also indirectly affect Perikatan Nasional, of which Bersatu is a component party.
The four cited a statement by Bersatu vice-president Radzi Jidin on Saturday that only 23 of the council’s original 49 members remained, and the quorum (50%) should be calculated based on the remaining members.
They disputed Radzi’s interpretation, saying that Clause 13.2 of Bersatu’s constitution fixed the Supreme Council’s membership at 49, while Clause 13.12 required a quorum of at least half that number, or 25.
“The compliance with the quorum provisions in the party constitution is not merely an ordinary administrative procedure that can be ignored or interpreted loosely.
“It is a mandatory condition precedent that absolutely justifies the validity of every decision formulated in Supreme Council meetings,” they said.
Zakri, Kalam, Roslan and Muslimin also cited a 2024 Karnataka High Court decision, which they said established that quorum should be determined based on the body’s prescribed membership rather than the number of members currently available.
They said any meeting that failed to meet that threshold lacked the authority to make decisions.
“Accordingly, we are of the view that any action or resolution arising from a meeting that does not achieve a quorum is invalid (void ab initio) and violates the principles of governance of societies provided under the Societies Act 1966,” they said.
They also claimed that non-compliance with Bersatu’s constitution not only undermined the party’s own rules but also affected RoS’s integrity as the authority responsible for regulating societies.
Zakri, Kalam and Roslan confirmed with FMT that the letter was authentic.
The letter comes two days after suspended Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee questioned whether the Supreme Council still had a sufficient quorum.
