PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan has reiterated his call to introduce anti-party hopping laws as the new Cabinet is set to be sworn in on Monday (Aug 30).
The Umno secretary-general said he once suggested anti-party hopping laws in 2018 when Pakatan Harapan was the government but no one cared.
“On December 20, 2018, I suggested for the Pakatan government to table a motion on an anti-party hopping law, but nobody bothered at that time.
“So I want to repeat this call to the new Malaysian Government under the leadership of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
“Do not smear the country’s democracy. Stop party hopping,” he said in a Twitter post on Monday.
The Pontian MP also shared screenshots of his tweets from 2018, where he said that Pakatan should table a bill in Parliament for an Anti-Party Hopping Act to be passed because it is a mockery of democracy, betrayal to voters and against party ethics.
He said if an elected representative hops to another party, a by-election should be called and the party-hopper should be banned from contesting.
He added that the proposed Act should also fine the party-hopper, such as returning the RM200,000 party fund spent for the election campaigning.
“Pakatan states should also have anti-hopping laws to deter assemblymen from hopping.
"Malaysia will be a good democratic model for others to emulate if this Act is in place," he added.
In November, former Dewan Rakyat speaker and Umno’s Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said had suggested the tabling of anti-hopping laws to prevent more political instability in Malaysia.
The late Bukit Gelugor MP Datuk Karpal Singh was among the first few to call for such laws following the defection of his own DAP party mates in 2008.
In Malaysia, Penang has an enactment against party-hopping under its state constitution.
The Penang State Constitution Enactment (Amendment) 2012 Article 14A (1) states that a member of the assembly shall vacate his seat if he has been elected as a candidate of a political party, has resigned or been expelled from or ceases for any reason whatsoever to be a member of that party, or has been elected as an independent but later joins a political party. Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution, however, guarantees that Malaysians have the freedom of association.
Pada 20/12/2018 saya pernah cadang agar Kjaan #PH bentang di #Parlimen ttg Akta Anti Lompat Parti
Ketika itu tiada siapa kisah. Maka saya ingin ulangi cadangan itu kpd Kjaan #Malaysia yg baru bawah DS @IsmailSabri60
Jangan cemari demokrasi di negara ini. Hentikan lompat parti. pic.twitter.com/HjCFB1FEHF
— Ahmad b Maslan (@ahmadmaslan) August 30, 2021