YOURSAY | ‘That is why we need anti-party hopping legislation.’

PKR MP warns of a second betrayal in next GE

Anonymous_86381547637684419: The problem with Pakatan Harapan is they accept Umno rejects. At the end of the day, you’re voting for the same person but under a different flag. That is the reason we’ve had so many political crises.

Just take a look at how many from Umno jumped to Harapan after the 14th General Election and the coalition even gave these defectors a hero’s welcome.

Where are these opportunists now? Back in the good graces of the government of the day.

Even after everything is said and done, we could still see Harapan sucking up to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the next election. Is this really what the rakyat want?

Bluemountains: PKR and Bersatu members are mostly ex-Umno members. Both parties are slowly being destroyed because of greed and jealousy amongst their leaders.

These leaders have no integrity nor dignity. They are morally bankrupt and they will do anything to get what they want. Betraying their voters is only second nature.

Currently, there are possibly many such leaders holding lucrative positions in Selangor and it is therefore not in their personal interest to defect.

Malaysians must take note of all defectors and vote them out in GE15.

Annonnymous 080: Let’s be very clear, one's affection to a party or a leader could change but there is no way any elected representative should be allowed to switch affiliation and betray the trust of rakyat.

That is why we need anti-party hopping legislation. This is a moral issue, especially in this country where the rakyat vote for the party most of the time and not individual politicians.

Siva1967: Party hopping is acceptable. No one person will forever be faithful to the party lines. Heck, even siblings have fallouts and some married partners do break up and file for divorce. This cannot be stopped.

But what can be done to curb this is to enact a law to deter elected members from party hopping. Just like in the employment law, an employee has to resign from his/her post when he/she decides that staying in the company is no longer tenable or the grass is greener elsewhere.

Members of parliament (MPs) or state assemblypersons must resign from all posts in Parliament and/or the state assembly when they decide they no longer agree with their party’s stand (or its leadership).

The mandate to decide who fills that vacancy should be returned to the people.

In this instance, the resigning MP/assemblyperson can re-nominate himself/herself as either a member of a new party or as an independent.

Even independent members must be compelled to resign when he/she who stood as independent is now wishing to join a party.

Malaysian have seen enough of these hopping frogs and it is imperative for such a law to be passed immediately.

Anonymous_38131575962311453: Or amend your party constitution so that when an elected MP jumps to another party, he/she should be liable to pay RM10 million plus automatically lose his/her MP status as he/she no longer represents the party in his/her constituency.

With these rules, I am sure you don't have to worry about traitors.

Mazilamani: It is getting clearer by the day that it is not about personal integrity or party loyalty but all about party hopping and trading a seat for the right price.

More such trading is the order of the day if the Covid-19 issue is not settled within the next few months.

Representatives at both state and federal levels are likely to trade in their seats to the highest bidder to recoup a lifetime’s earnings. The government can never be stable unlike the early years after independence.

The RM10 or RM20 million (or whatever amount) offered for seat hopping, if prudentially invested or used, will take care of many generations of the family.

You cannot do anything about this unless a law is introduced to hold a fresh by-election and to imprison the representative for betraying their parties and constituents.

Anonymous_16760865429524: DAP or Amanah defections are very few. Even PAS representatives, although I feel that they are loathsome, they rarely betray the party.

But PKR seems to be a ship full of rats, filled with Trojan horses and snakes in the bush. And likewise, Bersatu.

Why are "secular" Malay-dominant parties so prone to having traitors and are devoid of ethics and honour?

Even the non-Malays in PKR are infected with this traitor culture. Peer pressure? A case of "when in Rome do as the Romans do"?

Avicenna: At the end of the day, there are very few politicians with any integrity. Most of them are in it for themselves and are prepared to use race and religion as a means to an end.

It doesn't help that 40-50 percent of the voters behave and think along similar lines.

Anonymous_02644b95: It is time for PKR to start searching and identifying potential candidates for state and parliament seats.

Choose individuals with integrity, high moral value and principle. There are many. Have a watertight arrangement in place and strike hard at them should they betray the voters.

Naatamai: As long as all political parties don’t have the gumption to pass laws to make it illegal to switch parties, this pandemic of party hopping will go on into eternity, not for the sake of the rakyat but to enrich themselves.

Weijian: "You don't have to know rocket science to think about how you can win the next election. Just focus on your base," said Johor Bahru MP Akmal Nasir.

So young but yet full of wisdom and long-term thinking. We really need to move on from Mahathir.

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