JOHOR BARU: The anti-party hopping Bill that will be introduced by Barisan Nasional as part of its election manifesto could create much-needed political stability for Johor, says Umno Youth exco member Hafiz Ariffin.

       Hafiz said defecting elected representatives created a trust deficit among voters and also undermined democracy in Malaysia at the same time.

       "Many voters have lost their direction and their hope in the country's democratic system. Therefore, Johor Barisan will introduce an anti party-hopping Enactment which will stop such incidents from repeating,” he said.

       "It will also carry Barisan's main offer to Johoreans, which is political stability," added Hafiz in a statement on Wednesday (March 2).

       Hafiz said that if Barisan wins the Johor state election, every elected assemblyman in Johor must declare their assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

       He also said that Barisan will introduce a key performance index (KPI) for locals to rate the performances of assemblymen, state government officers and village chiefs.

       Hafiz said that this is to solve overlapping work between assemblymen, state government offices and relevant bodies.

       "We want to speed up the process to solve local and current issues in Johor," Hafiz said.

       "To ensure improved services to the people and also political maturity, I, as the Umno Youth exco, fully support Barisan's manifesto for the Johor state election 2022," he added.

       Barisan launched its 43-point manifesto on Tuesday (March 1) and among the highlights is a pledge to create 100,000 jobs, welfare aid for the poor and equal allocation of RM200,000 to all assemblymen regardless of political affiliation.

       Early voting is on March 8 while polling is on March 12.