PETALING JAYA: A recall vote mechanism is the best way to end party-hopping, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

       The former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker said the fate of party-hoppers would then be placed in the hands of voters.

       “Voters will decide if the elected representatives stay or go. Empower voters, not political parties or the government, that’s real democracy,” the Pengerang MP said in a tweet on Sunday (April 10).

       Under such a system, voters in an affected constituency will have the power to trigger a by-election if an elected representative defects to a different party.

       Azalina, who is special advisor to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, had tweeted on Saturday (April 9) about the danger of amending Article 10(1) of the Federal Constitution without first clearly spelling out its proposed effects.

       She added that the proposed amendments are too wide and pose a danger as they can be later challenged in court, saying that the amendments should also consider Article 48 of the Federal Constitution, which deals with the disqualification of an MP.

       Last September, Azalina submitted a notice of motion to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun to table a Private Member’s Bill to push for a Recall Bill to be enacted.

       Her effort marked the start of government initiatives to tackle the party-hopping issue through a bipartisan committee.

       On April 2, Wan Junaidi revealed that a total of 39 MPs in the country had switched parties since 2018, which had led to political instability in Malaysia with the country witnessing three prime ministers being appointed in a single parliamentary term.

       Party-hopping has also led to the change of administration at federal and state levels, resulting in political instability.

       The anti-party hopping Bill was supposed to have been tabled on the last day of the Dewan Rakyat meeting on March 24 but was postponed to April 11.

       On Thursday (April 7), the government announced that it would table amendments to the Federal Constitution on April 11 in the Dewan Rakyat and April 12 in the Dewan Negara.

       The date for another special sitting to table the anti-hopping law will be fixed later.

       The last-minute postponements were due to differences among some MPs over issues such as a recall vote and the definition of what “anti-hopping” means.

       Additionally there had been pressure from opposition MPs and government backbenchers for the proposed anti-hopping law to be tabled during the Dewan Rakyat meeting last month.

       This is to keep in line with the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the government and opposition last September to initiate political reforms before July 31 this year.