March 30, 2022
A recall petition would be preferable to enacting laws to prevent party-hopping as the latter would give political parties too much control over their lawmakers, a lawyer formerly with electoral watchdog group Bersih 2.0 has suggested.
Amid proposals to amend the laws to prevent party-hopping, New Sin Yew urged instead for the implementation of recall petitions — also known as recall elections — as a better alternative as he contended that this would prevent political parties from having too much control over their members who should be allowed to act in their constituents’ best interests.
Should anti-party-hopping legislation be enacted, he observed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob could be sacked by Umno for not toeing the party line.
“Consider a moment the absurdity of this, a political party having greater power than a PM or any elected representative. If the anti-party-hopping law is passed, for an MP (Member of Parliament) or assemblyman who is no longer a member of a political party (having either resigned or been sacked), his or her seat will be vacated and [this would] trigger a by-election. Furthermore, political parties’ decisions on its members are not challengeable in court,” he posted on Twitter.
“What happens if the MP or assemblyman disagrees with the party and does not toe party lines because it is against the interests of his/her constituency? The MP or assemblyman will be constrained to act against the constituency’s interest for fear of being expelled by the political party,” said New, who contended that this would be akin to the politician in fact representing his party rather than his constituents.
“Political parties [would] become more powerful at the constituents’ expense through such anti-party-hopping legislation.”
Taking the departure of Gombak MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali from PKR to Bersatu in 2019 as an example, New said should a sufficient number of voters in Gombak want him replaced as their MP, they would be able to do so by way of a recall petition.
“The power to decide on the fate of the MP or assemblyman remains with the rakyat or people instead of political parties,” he said, adding it is of no surprise that almost all political parties with the exception of MCA want such anti-party-hopping legislation.
“It’s because it will give these parties so much power but it will damage the constituents’ interest and curtail us from being represented. As the rakyat, we must oppose the upcoming constitutional amendment to introduce such an anti-party-hopping law.”
Presently Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar is said to be looking to fast-track the legal amendment.
Related news:
Lawyer proposes recall petition instead of anti-party hopping legislation