In a statement tonight, Liew, whose portfolio also includes parliamentary affairs, said that is why Yamani, the eldest son of former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman, still sits in the independent bench in the lower house.

Liew added that this was confirmed by Dewan Rakyat speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.

Sabah PPBM chief coordinator Hajiji Mohd Noor reportedly announced Yamani’s PPBM membership recently, after he applied to join the party before the start of the year.

“I had applied to join much earlier, before January. But based on my seat in Parliament, I’m still an independent,” Yamani told reporters last week.

“Normally, once you’re in, they will change your seat. That’s how you know you’re officially in the party.”

He is also quoted as saying that party chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad had informally confirmed his membership.

Yamani was one of 13 Sabah Umno elected representatives who ditched the party last December.

All but one of the former Umno senior members — eight assemblymen and four MPs — eventually joined PPBM in stages between March and April 6, the day PPBM was launched in Sabah.

However, Yamani was not among those whose names were announced as having joined in the first batch on March 15, nor was he present during the launch.

Hajiji said as far as he was concerned, Yamani was already a PPBM member, adding the latter had, in fact, received his membership card earlier than the other former senior Umno members who had applied.

Hajiji added that Yamani has been proposed as the Sipitang PPBM deputy chief.

The Federal Court on Wednesday struck out an appeal challenging Yamani’s GE14 win. He won the seat on a Barisan Nasional ticket.