Reports by MARTIN CARVALHO, TARRENCE TAN and JOSEPH KAOS Jr

       PETALING JAYA: Calls for anti-hopping laws have become louder after a spate of governments collapsing from defections.

       The biggest such case was the “Sheraton Move” in February 2020 which resulted in the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan federal government when a number of MPs defected to help form the Perikatan Nasional government.

       Following that, other state governments – in Melaka, Kedah, Perak, and Johor, all led by Pakatan Harapan – fell with assemblymen defecting.

       The Melaka government fell again in October last year when four assemblymen withdrew their support for the Perikatan Nasional government, forcing fresh elections.

       The Sabah election in July 2020 was also triggered by state assemblymen pulling their support for the Parti Warisan Sabah-led government.

       Although the then-Sabah opposition claimed to have the majority to form a new government, Parti Warisan Sabah’s president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal decided to dissolve the state assembly.

       Pengerang MP and Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said is among the major proponents of the anti-hopping law.

       Last November, Azalina submitted the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Regulation of Party Hopping and Political Accountability Bill 2021.

       Azalina’s suggestions include that elected representatives who switch parties be made to vacate their seats, or a referendum be held to allow the rakyat to decide if the representative should be replaced or not.

       The anti-hopping law is also among the reforms agreed upon by the government and Pakatan Harapan when they signed a memorandum of understanding last September.

       Last month, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar confirmed that the anti-hopping Bill would be tabled in the upcoming Parliament meeting which starts on Feb 28, earlier than the previous July timeline.