ANTI-HOPPING laws will protect voters’ mandate and reduce politicking between political parties, said Azalina Othman Said.

“Voters can also decide whether to keep the party hopper,” the Umno supreme council member wrote in a question-and-answer sheet on the topic, which she posted on Twitter today.

The former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker also said that Malaysian politics is in a mess today because of party-hopping.

“This phenomenon has upset the balance among MPs in Dewan Rakyat and threatened the position of the government,” said the Pengerang MP.

There are no anti-hopping laws in Malaysia because of Article 10 of the federal constitution, which allows for the freedom of association. 

“One way to stop party-hopping is to have recall elections where the lawmaker has to recontest the seat in a by-election after switching parties,” said the former minister.

“Voters can then decide again whether to keep the MP or not during a recall election.”

Last week, Azalina reminded newly appointed deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament), Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, to make the implementation of an anti-hopping law a priority for the new government.

Mas Ermieyati is among the 15 Umno MPs who hopped to Bersatu after the Barisan Nasional government fell in 2018.

An anti-hopping law is also one of the reforms being discussed between Pakatan Harapan leaders and new prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, purportedly in exchange for the opposition’s support in a motion of confidence, given Ismail’s slim parliamentary majority. – August 29, 2021.