FORMER Umno stalwart Mustapa Mohamed, who has just defected to Bersatu, has been described as “a leader with good morals, integrity and a clean image”.

Indeed! The first thing any Member of Parliament with good morals and integrity should do after they have resigned from the coalition under which they stood during GE14 would be to vacate their seats, because they were elected based on their coalition affiliation. It was for that very reason that UMNO and Barisan Nasional were rejected at GE14.

MPs forfeit their seats either when they leave the party and coalition, switch parties or are expelled before they finish their term. Who, except for the thick-skinned politician without morals and integrity, doesn’t know that?

Few good men in New Malaysia

Isn’t there supposed to be a new political culture under the Pakatan Harapan Government after the GE14? The hatred for party hoppers was prevalent in the DAP for decades. However, the contempt and vilification of the three Pakatan representatives in Perak who defected to BN in 2009 was soon forgotten when Pakatan leader Anwar Ibrahim attempted his September 16 caper after the 2008 general elections.

It was the fiercely independent and principled Karpal Singh who stood out to condemn such crossover shenanigans when his own coalition leaders tried to execute similar ruses. His vociferous castigation of Anwar Ibrahim for attempting to affect the defection of BN MPs to Pakatan after the 2008 general elections and the compliance of his own party leaders, Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng, can still be seen on YouTube:

“Anwar Ibrahim harus bertaubat… Even the DAP followed the rhetoric of Anwar Ibrahim in supporting crossovers. I regret that I have not been able to get the support from my own party leaders, Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng. It’s a shame – they should also bertaubat…”

Although Karpal is no longer with us, his stirring condemnation of the unethical crossovers of MPs should be the benchmark against which to judge party hoppers. PH leaders ought to honour his memory by reaffirming the principle he held on to so fervently and demand that all these MPs who have left their party and coalition vacate their parliamentary seats immediately.

In the same vein, PH MPs should make it their priority to legislate an anti-defection law at the next parliamentary seating. They may know that in India, for example, an Anti-Defection Act was included in the Constitution of 1985 and sets provisions for disqualifications of elected members on the grounds of defection to another political party.

Toads, donkeys, moronic oxen, a veritable circus

Since 2008, we have had a veritable political circus – toads jumping into the opposing coalition, donkeys turning into moronic oxen (PH or BN-leaning “independents”). When will the circus end? As a seventies song goes:

“Politicians were mice (politikus) and the rakyat were lions

Once upon an election time

Now it’s the opposite,

That’s twice upon a time!”

Another Sixties song puts it even more succinctly for the Malaysian voter:

“Laugh about it, shout about it,

When it’s time to choose,

Any way you look at it you lose!” – October 29, 2018.

* Kua Kia Soong is SUARAM adviser.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.