THE Government must be firm in its commitment to table the anti-party hopping law to ensure voters’ confidence in the electoral system remains intact, said PKR today.
“I know that are many are unwilling to cast their votes not only because of the rising COVID-19 cases but worried that once a person gets elected, they defect to another party later on.
“This is why I stress on the significance of the anti-party hopping law,” its information chief Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said, in a series of tweets.
Post the 2018 General Election, UMNO saw much of its MPs defect to then-Pakatan Harapan coalition partner, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
Among the ex-UMNO stalwarts who went to Bersatu were Larut MP Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, Jeli MP Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and Hulu Terengganu MP Datuk Rosol Wahid.
In the Sheraton Move that collapsed the Pakatan’s Government in February 2020, Bersatu formed a pact with UMNO and PAS, with several senior PKR MPs leaving the party to give the latter a majority to form the new Government.
The ex-PKR leaders include Gombak MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and Bandar Tun Razak MP Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar.
Last week, Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the Government would amend Article 48(6) of the Federal Constitution, which bars an elected representative who resigns from their seat from contesting in an election for five years.
Not against freedom of association
“We are looking into Article 48(6) of the Federal Constitution. We have decided that in the (proposed) anti-hopping law, a lawmaker who is removed as a MP after quitting a party can contest in a by-election.
“This is to determine if the incumbent lawmaker was given electoral mandate due to his or her own personality or because of the party,” Malaysiakini reported him as saying.
On that note, Shamsul stressed that the anti-party hopping law was not in breach of Article 10© of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association.
The former minister added that the anti-party hopping law was needed to prevent elected representative from acting repulsively by defecting, following inducement from certain quarters.
“If these actions are not stopped, it will deter voters from casting their ballots as they will lose confidence in the electoral process, which will dent our democratic process,” he concluded. – Feb 21, 2022
