‘Anti-hopping law needed to preserve long-term political stability’
KUCHING: An academician has proposed for the government to criminalise party-hopping to protect public interest and ensure the country’s long-term political stability.
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia Faculty of Syariah and Law Assoc Prof Dr Muzaffar Syah Mallow said regulating party-hopping would mean that elected representatives would have to vacate their seats if they jump from one party to another, thus giving back the mandate to the people to cast their votes again.
“Party-hopping should be made illegal in the country. Our Federal Constitution through
Article 10(2) and (3) allow us to create restriction over freedom of association itself which includes the creation of an antihopping law.
“Why should we still allow elected representatives to jump from one political party to another one if we are already aware of the damaging effects it has on our society and country?” he said in a statement yesterday.
He was reacting to Sunday’s political development which saw two Parti Keadilan Rakyat MPs – Julau’s Larry Sng and Tebrau’s Steven Choong – quit the party in favour of the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition.
The pair handed over signed statutory declarations to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who shared the news on his official Facebook page.
Muzaffar said it mattered that the people continue to have trust and confidence in the country’s democracy, which allows the people to vote for the elected representative.
If party-hopping in the country is left unchecked, it would be very difficult for Malaysia to have long-term political stability, he added.
“Instability can give rise to other problems which can severely affect everybody’s life. Foreign investors will start to avoid investing in our country.
“This may affect our economic performance and job opportunities among the people, and eventually lead to an increasing number of unemployed people and social problems,” he said.