IT is a betrayal of voters’ mandate when a lawmaker quits a party and causes the government to fall, Steven Choong said.

Likewise, the Tebrau MP said, is the act of withdrawing a party from the ruling coalition to form a new government with other parties.

“As such, the new anti party-hopping laws must cover parties that form a new government after causing the collapse of another, like in the Sheraton Move,” said Choong during the debate on anti party-hopping laws in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Choong, ironically, is one of the more than a dozen MPs who quit PKR to support then Perikatan Nasional prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh-PN) in 2021.

In 2020, Muhyiddin and former PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali (Gombak-PN) had led several MPs to resign from PKR, resulting in the fall of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

While Muhyiddin triggered the collapse by withdrawing Bersatu from PH, Azmin led a group of 10 MPs out of PKR to cause PH to lose the majority in Putrajaya.

Choong said that anti party-hopping law should include a recall mechanism as automatic vacating of a seat incurs huge costs on the government and taxpayers.

“Recall election is fairer compared to automatic by-elections.

“But what happens if a lawmaker hops three years after a general election?” Choong asked.

Choong was referring to article 54(1) of the constitution that says by-elections do not have to be held in vacancies when the Parliament term is under two years.

After quitting PKR, Choong started a new party called Parti Bangsa Malaysia with former PKR vice president Larry Sng (Julau-PBM). – April 11, 2022.