By Sherilyn Pang
JULY 8 2022
‘Pengkhianat’ — the Malay word for traitor.
Its contemporary use in reference to politicians that beguile their voters, having abandoned their original party’s principles and values with whom they stood for during elections, denotes a strong abhorrence for such practices. After winning on the latter’s ticket, they ‘hop over’ to join rival parties or coalitions whose principles they earlier opposed.
In recent years, Malaysians have become aware of the impact that party-hopping politicians can cause to the country’s stability. The Chief Executive of the government must command majority support in Parliament, failing which, they cannot remain as head of administration, thus losing the authority to legislate.
A grand example of the phenomenon was the infamous “Sheraton Move” orchestrated by the president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in 2020 when he overthrew the elected 22-month-old Pakatan Harapan (PH) government led by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Muhyiddin led PPBM out from the PH coalition that defeated the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime during the 14th General Election. Along with his allies, he formed another coalition to remove PH from the federal government. Several Members of Parliament (MPs) from PH’s parties switched over to PPBM, and Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration was subsequently sworn into Putrajaya to govern Malaysia. This unprecedented incident marked a black moment in the nation’s history.
It hurled the country into a severe political crisis amidst a worsening COVID-19 pandemic which saw thousands perish under the administration of Muhyiddin’s bloated Cabinet whose ministers struggled to deal with the crises, much to the rakyat’s wrath.
Muhyiddin then imposed a nationwide state of Emergency in 2021, effectively suspending Parliament and general elections. Many believed the Emergency was declared on the pretext of curbing the pandemic prior to vaccine rollout. In actuality, the suspension of the democratic process enabled PN to cling on to power without majority Parliamentary support. By that time, the incompetence of Muhyiddin’s Cabinet had grown intolerable in the eyes of the people.
Amid the political fiasco unfolding in the Peninsula, turmoil was brewing in East Malaysia in the state of Sabah. The leader of Sabah Heritage Party (Warisan) and PH coalition government of Sabah, Shafie Apdal, and Sabah BN coalition opposition state leader, Musa Aman, both claimed to hold the majority to form the government. In lieu of such political gridlock, the Governor of Sabah, Juhar Mahiruddin decided to dissolve the State Legislative Assembly on 30 July 2020 paving the way for a snap election that ended with PN’s victory. Soon after, Melaka and Johor would face similar conflict, threatening the strength of their polity leading to state elections on 20 November 2021 and 12 March 2022 respectively, only to be recaptured by BN that saw the party’s rise back to power.
The upheaval pried open a nation deeply divided along faultlines of political ideology with a population polarised by race and religion across the political spectrum. This internal struggle destabilised and exposed Malaysia to external threats i.e., heightening economic recession, financial challenges, etc., that may prove too dear a price to pay if not carefully resolved.
Unbridled money politics’ flirtation with authoritarianism
Consequently, such levels of instability paved the way for ousted former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to return to power. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), of which Najib is a part of, ceaselessly appealed to Malaysia’s large Malay demographic with his fiery brand of ‘Malu Apa Bosku’, drawing in supporters despite his alleged involvement in the 1MDB scandal.
Najib’s return does little to allay fears of the country inching towards authoritarianism as the beleaguered Pekan MP endeavours to dodge his 12-year prison sentence at all cost. Najib was found guilty in 2020 by the High Court for his involvement in abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, money laundering and his role in the 1MDB global financial scandal.
In relation to that, the US Federal Court had already sentenced Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng who was embroiled in the same scandal to a 30-year prison term — a 25-year prison term also currently hangs over the head of the bank’s Southeast Asian division chairman Tim Leissner upon conviction. However, Najib still walks a free man pending exhaustion of all avenues for his appeal.
In a land where leaders shamelessly flaunt the “cash is king” mantra, the party-hopping phenomenon would surely endure if no immediate measures are taken to curb it.
The prevalence of money politics and corruption has become so deeply entrenched within Malaysia’s political system that it is now the primary weapon that rogue politicians use to crush the people’s interests of which they are meant to serve and, in the process, subvert our democratic institutions to fulfil their selfish needs.
Contrary to popular perception, however, party-hopping is not the root cause of the collapse of democracy. It is merely a symptom that portends a more acute condition that threatens our national security at its core.
GE15: Anti-Hopping legislation urgent
Prior to the Sheraton Move, the Perak Constitutional Crisis in 2009 introduced the Malaysian people abruptly to the consequences of party-hopping. The action by three Pakatan Rakyat MPs who won the 2008 election, then quit their parties to support the BN regime that ended the 11-month-old opposition-led state government (had) increased the people’s awareness towards it, in the advent of rising social media usage.
Since 2018, over 40 MPs have reportedly switched political allegiances, terminated from their party, or become independent, all of which lead to similar consequences of defection. A higher defection rate is likely to have gone unrecorded in prior years. Pre-Sheraton party-hopping moves by various MPs are captured by Malay Mail in March 2022 as follows:
Party-hoppers often act out of their personal volition whilst perceiving their constituents’ ignorance towards the negative impact of their action. As such, is Malaysia merely then an experimentation ground for these politicians to satiate their greed for power and influence?
No doubt, opponents of AHL have argued proportionally that they could, at any one time, be ‘motivated by principles’ to withdraw their political party membership and become independent lawmakers or switch allegiances ‘for the sake of their constituencies’. Nevertheless, consensus gathered is of the view that the act in whichever manner, is really just two sides of the same coin — that party-hopping still causes political crises.
If the supposed gatekeepers of our democracy comprising lawmakers from both sides of the divide are reckless and continue to allow themselves to be enticed by power and positions offered by the advantageous ruling government, the country’s slide into authoritarianism should be dreaded.
In view of such ghastly consequences that continue to put our democracy at stake, there is no better timing than now to get the AHL up and running before the upcoming election. The GE15 is expected to happen next year. The enactment of the legislation should, thus, realistically serve as a critical incentive to spur voter turnout.
At this point, the stalling to the progression of the bill in Parliament is attributable to MPs’ concerns regarding undesired outcomes. Negative outcomes as per below had been cautioned to occur as a result of a hastily-drafted Anti-Hopping Act being rushed through Parliament.
AHL or Recall Election?
In fact, the AHL has been enlisted on Parliament’s priority queue for immediate tabling and was slated to be tabled within the first half of this year’s first Parliamentary sitting alone.
De facto Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar announced the deferment of the Bill on April 6, 2022 and later, with the tabling of (the) Federal Constitutional amendment. The amendment of the Constitution would facilitate the smooth transition of the AHL next. Further deep-diving of the definition of ‘party-hopping’ was apparently necessary during this timeline.
Junaidi added that post-Constitution amendment, the AHL Bill will ensue without requiring a two-thirds majority.
For that purpose, a bi-partisan Parliament (Special) Select Committee (PSSC) comprising MPs from the government and opposition parties was set up to review the constitutional amendment and draft the bill.
The following are several cornerstone factors (feared unintended outcomes) contributing to the extended deliberation on the AHL:
- Firstly, the AHL contravenes with fundamental right to freedom of association
— The AHL provision which restricts politicians from changing parties contravenes with the freedom to association under Article 10 of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution (FC) concerning individuals’ right to join or leave groups voluntarily
— A case in 1992 involving Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan & Anor v Nordin Bin Salleh & Anor is mainly cited in present-day discussions revolving around the AHL. Nordin Salleh left PAS to join Umno, following which the Supreme Court held that the AHL enacted by the Kelantan State Government in response to the case, which provided for the vacation of a constituency seat upon his/her cessation of membership within a political party, were null and void. The Court also held that because the law was not legislated in Parliament, it was unconstitutional. Simultaneously, it also held that, for the State to impose a sanction on practising a right as fundamental as the right to disassociate, it was unconstitutional.
— Article 4 (1) of the Federal Constitution states that the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land, hence, any law passed after independence which is inconsistent with the constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.
- Secondly, the proposed Federal Constitution’s Article 10 Amendment could expose it to abuse
— The proposed amendment to FC’s Article 10 overreaches the objectives of anti-hopping and opens it to political abuse, the Malaysian Bar said. Calling it a ‘simplistic’ approach to the prevailing multitude of the issue, the Bar even added that amending Article 10 without editing Article 48 which pertains to the disqualification of a member of the House of Parliament would also not prevent hopping. Instead, it will only create a whole different dynamic on democratic abuse. Read the Bar’s extensive statement for a better grasp of the amendments.
Refer to link:
Press Release | Proposed Amendment to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution Overreaches the Objectives of Anti-Hopping and Is Open to Abuse
https://www.malaysianbar.org.my/article/news/press-statements/press-statements/press-release-proposed-amendment-to-article-10-of-the-federal-constitution-overreach-the-objectives-of-anti-hopping-and-are-open-to-abuse
- Thirdly, diverse views have been submitted with regards to consideration between the AHL Vs. Recall Election (RE)
— Legal experts and the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) warned against the hazards of passing a rushed AHL without analysing the issue’s true complexities that can lead to more damaging, unintended implications in the long run. The current conundrum facing the Parliament today is, therefore, to figure out the right solution to bypass the 1992 court ruling and at the same time, minimise any unintended ramifications that a well thought-out solution may yield
— As a result, the RE option, though not a new suggestion as it had been occasionally raised by past MPs, was subsequently proposed as one of several remedies to address party-hopping
— Among other mechanisms, the RE involves setting a petition threshold for voters’ signatures to reach before they can decide to retain the MP, or allow or disallow incumbents from recontesting in a by-election
— Bersih chairman Thomas Fann said that the RE’s purpose is to return the power of choice to the people. “The people are the ones who should decide whether the (hopping) politician should vacate the seat (of their constituency) or not,” Fann explained.
Coincidentally, Wan Junaidi showed clear conviction when he announced that the AHL would be tabled in the upcoming Parliament meeting which will begin on July 18.
Kill money politics: Moot Anti-hopping, Political Funding Acts concurrently
The nation’s success towards enacting an AHL will only be the first step towards reinstating administrative order as well as to shore up voter confidence. It might not be a perfect law, but it is expected to loosen the iron grips of power play and money politics that have become so cancerous within the political system which has led to the manifestation of widespread corruption in various sectors, damaging the social fabric of our society.
The Global Corruption Barometer for Asia 2020 revealed that 71% of Malaysians perceived government corruption as a serious problem. A survey by Transparency International discovered that out of all the public institutions; the Parliament, the Police and Government officials were ranked by 36%, 30% and 28% of Malaysians respectively, as having the highest perception of corruption.
This inevitably points to the reality that money plays a big part in destabilising the country’s political situation.
Party-hopping poses as one such symptom involving elements of corruption that cannot be ruled out.
This unequivocally stresses the need for stringent legislation against party-hopping as soon as possible and not forgetting that the situation cannot be effectively arrested unless an accompanying Political Financing Law is also mooted at the same time. The latter detects financial flow for constituent representatives especially pervasive during electoral campaigning periods.
It is not realistic to think AHL alone would suffice in resolving the contentious issue. The very root of the problem that has hurled Malaysia into the depths of chaos is its existential moral crisis where money and greed rule the order of the day.
The current trust deficit among the people towards the government has breached uncontainable levels. This is expected due to perpetual acts of transgressions over the years toward our nation’s democratic institutions. Such acts are committed shamelessly by the very individuals to whom the people have entrusted with the country’s well being. Unsavoury party-hopping habit, driven by avarice, is indicative that there are no more vestiges of forbearance left among our leaders on whom we can rely to safeguard our country’s democratic institutions.
It is a pity that our forefathers who fought tooth and nail to secure a future for the next generation would end up having the latter live out the horrors of witnessing the evisceration of the nation’s foundations amid a society losing its foothold on its moral compass.
The catastrophic deadlock our leaders have driven the country into today can be likened to what the popular Malay proverb ‘Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi’ aptly implies.
Safeguarding democracy, sine qua non towards restoring rakyat’s trust
Although curbing floor-crossing tendencies among MPs via the AHL will not solve everything, it is the most urgent measure now to be taken. Regardless of whether party-hopping is unlawful or not gleaning from the amalgamation of views from various quarters, it is essentially unethical, because it results in serious consequences.
All the regrettable political-hopping events leading up to this point, including the tens of thousands of Covid-related deaths which could have been avoided, have disparaged the rakyat so much so that they are left in despair amidst a nation deeply buried in disarray with seemingly insurmountable crises to navigate.
It is through this desired first step of restoring political integrity immediately in our country’s political system that should serve to dignify the people again.
That is why, Malaysian lawmakers are urged to remain steadfast in delivering their promises to resolve this issue by this year itself — or risk never having the same opportunity to do so again.
Ultimately, defending Malaysia’s democracy now is the sine qua non to honouring the people’s yearning for a better future for which they aspire for their tanah air.
END OF MGRT ANALYSIS
Track Government progress on the Anti-Hopping Law here (MGRT):
https://c4center.org/mygovtreformtracker/party-hopping/
Issued by:
Center to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4 Center)
For further enquiries, please contact:
info@c4center.org
012-379 2189 / 03-7660 5140
Website: https://c4center.org/