KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 -- Bersatu Supreme Council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan has clarified that the five MPs including former chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir and three other MPs were not sacked but were automatically dropped from the party.

In a statement following the party's decision, Wan Saiful pointed out that Article 10.2 of the party's constitution clearly stated that any member automatically loses his or her membership the moment they "join any other political party".

"Whenever any Bersatu MPs choose to join any group that is not part of the party in Parliament, automatically their membership will be dropped. It is nothing surprising.

"I want to firmly state here that they were not sacked. But ...