KOTA KINABALU: Yamani Hafez Musa, the eldest son of former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, is officially a Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) member.
This comes after months of uncertainty on the former Umno member's status.
The Sipitang MP who won the seat under the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket in last year's general election (GE14) received his membership card from Prime Minister and Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at a Sabah Bersatu luncheon, this afternoon.
Also at the luncheon were Dr Mahathir's wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Marzuki Yahya, Sabah Bersatu chief Datuk Hajiji Noor and his deputy Datuk Masidi Manjun.
It was reported several months ago that he had received his Bersatu card but was waiting for confirmation of his membership from Dr Mahathir.
While he won Sipitang as an Umno member, Yamani's seat in Parliament is listed as Independent following an earlier announcement that he had joined Bersatu.
Sabah Bersatu secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee when contacted confirmed that Yamani is now officially a Bersatu member.
"Today, he (Yamani) was officially accepted as a Bersatu member. With that, Yamani is now no longer an Independent MP," he said.
Yamani was among five MPs and eight assemblymen in Sabah who left Umno at the end of last year and submitted his Bersatu membership form in February this year.
The other four MPs were earlier accepted in the party. They were Ronald, Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri (Kudat), Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun (Beaufort) and Datuk Zakaria Edris (Libaran).
Yamani's application was not immediately accepted when Bersatu spread its wings in Sabah earlier this year.
With this new update, Sabah Bersatu now has five MPs and nine assemblymen.