KOTA BARU: Former Nenggiri assemblyman Mohd Azizi Abu Naim has no plans to leave Bersatu, saying that he still loves the party.
Azizi said he did not expect that his decision to declare support for the prime minister's administration would end up with him being sacked from the party.
"It never crossed my mind to leave Bersatu party. What l did was just to bring justice to my electorate and my constituency as well as to protect their wellbeing.
"Nenggiri is a rural area and there are settlers and others who depend on the federal government for its development," he said.
Azizi, who is also Gua Musang member of parliament, said he and the other five MPs, declared rogue by the party, believed that the decision by Bersatu's leadership was a strategy to punish them for supporting the prime minister.
"What irks us is why Bersatu amended its constitution after we declared our support for the PM and why the Kelantan state assembly speaker declared the Nenggiri state seat vacant without sending a notice to me or hearing my explanation like what the Dewan Rakyat speaker has done," he added.
Despite this, Azizi said he had accepted it as a test from God.
"My focus now is the injunction that l have filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
"I hope it can be resolved before the Nenggiri by-election. I also pray for a positive result so that the by-election will not be held," he added.
In November last year, Azizi declared his support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the unity government.
He was among the seven Bersatu elected representatives whose memberships were revoked by the party for declaring their support for Anwar and the unity government.
Following this, Kelantan Assembly Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah on June 19 declared the Nenggiri state seat vacant.
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The Election Commission then fixed Aug 17 for the Nenggiri by-election.
During the Kelantan state election in August last year, Perikatan Nasional (PN), through Azizi wrested the seat from BN after he obtained a majority of 810 votes.
Azizi polled 6,517 votes to defeat Ab Aziz Yusoff of BN, who received, 5,707 votes, in a straight fight for the state seat.