Wan Saiful Wan Jan said that the DAP-led government was doing everything in its power to arrest the support for Perikatan Nasional.

The party’s former information chief said such action showed that the state government feared the Muhyiddin Yassin-led coalition.

“I hope the people will see how tyrannical the Penang government is and how obsessed it is about remaining in power.

“And I am confident the people will punish them (Pakatan Harapan and Umno) in the coming state polls,” he told reporters outside the Dewan Rakyat.

Earlier today, the Penang state assembly passed the motion to have the four Bersatu assemblymen — Khaliq Mehtab Ishaq (Bertam), Zolkifly Lazim (Teluk Bahang), Dr Afif Bahardin (Seberang Jaya) and Zulkifli Ibrahim (Sungai Acheh) — to vacate their seats.

Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow later explained that the decision to table the motion was a matter of “ethics and morality”.

Wan Saiful, who is also the Tasek Gelugor MP, described today’s events as a black mark on Penang’s state assembly history.

“It is clear that the state government wants to rid any semblance of a check and balance so that they can reign supreme and do as they please.”

The state government mooted the move in October 2020 but this stalled after the assemblymen filed an injunction to stop the state assembly from doing so.

Last Thursday, the High Court quashed the four Bersatu men’s application to stop the motion from being tabled, saying it had no power to interfere in the management of the state assembly.