THE electoral system needs to be fixed so that it will protect the rights of voters, especially against defections of elected representatives, said experts.

This, they said, is more important than passing anti-hopping laws.

They were referring to the recent cases of defections involving two PKR lawmakers to Perikatan Nasional and three Amanah assemblymen to PKR.

Iman Research programme director Badrul Hisham Ismail told The Malaysian Insight that disallowing an elected representative to hop to another party is against freedom of association.

“No one would like to see their own jump ship and be part of another group. They will only be happy if others join them instead of leaving.

“But it is a case of these defecting reps’ democratic right to choose whatever party they feel comfortable with,” he said.

He admits that such defections could be against the wishes of the voters who backed them.

“Yes, this does go against the wishes of the voters. For example, if I voted for PKR, I do not want to see my MP resign and join another party.

“So, we need to fix our electoral system. In Malaysia, we do not vote for an individual, we vote for a party,” Badrul said.

One of the alternatives is to introduce the proportional representation system to replace the first-past-the-post system, he said.

The latter is an electoral system where voters cast their vote for a candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins (irrespective of vote share).

In the proportional representation system, parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them.

As Malaysians tend to vote for the party instead of the candidate, the elected representative must vacate the seat and return it to the party in the case of defection, he said.

“We do not vote for individuals. Therefore, an elected representative must return the seat to the party if he chooses to leave.”

On Sunday, PKR’s Larry Sng (Julau) and Steven Choong (Tebrau) declared they were government-friendly independents, giving Muhyiddin Yassin a simple majority in Parliament.

A day earlier, three Amanah assemblymen in Johor joined PKR.

While condemning Sng and Choong for becoming government-friendly representatives, PKR praised the three Amanah defectors, saying it was their democratic right.

DAP lawmaker Ramkarpal Singh lashed out at party hopping, calling for it to be outlawed.

To this, Badrul said Ramkarpal’s call goes against the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of association.

“It should not be outlawed. It is against the freedom of association. If one is no longer happy in an organisation, he must be allowed to leave, as simple as that.

“What needs to be fixed is the system so that the rights of the voters can be protected.”

Universiti Malaya’s Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said all parties should condemn party hopping.

“They cannot be praising those who join them and then condemn those who left. They must be consistent.

“This is not a new issue. It has been ongoing for a long time but no one has the political will to do anything.

“Perhaps they know that one day they need defectors to jump ship.” – March 3, 2021.