COMMENT | The case against an anti-hopping law

COMMENT | Although the phenomenon of party-hopping has been observed in Malaysia for some time, it has become rampant recently.

The downfall of the Pakatan Harapan federal government, as well as the state governments in Kedah, Perak, Johor, Sabah, and Malacca, were all related to the political landscape of the lawmakers jumping ships into another party. 

The political coup to betray the people's mandate has continued even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic raging fast and furious.

Without a doubt, the scenario of Malaysian elected politicians defecting and using the switch of allegiance to alter the government's composition poses the greatest threat to our country's democracy. 

This is especially true with the current situation in Malaysia, in which the government was formed with such a narrow majority. Any shifting of parties by the MPs would certainly exacerbate political instability.

Pursuant to that, the voice calling for the enactment of legislation against party-hopping has grown louder and taken concrete form. Recently, Minister of Prime Minister's Department Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar announced in the Dewan Rakyat that an anti-hopping Bill would be tabled in Parliament when it meets on Feb 28, 2022.

Nevertheless, despite the belief that anti-defection legislation is the panacea for correcting the pervasive "frogging"...