KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang-BN) is pushing the current administration to include the proposals she outlined in her private members’ bill to sack party-hoppers.
In her debate on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat, she said it is critical for Malaysia to have mechanisms in place to prevent party-hoppers, protect voter rights while also protecting the interest of the politician who might be forced to jump ship due to certain circumstances.
“We need to have a more transparent and open mechanism, which was outlined under my private members’ bill ‘Sacking Members of Parliament 2021’, and we must return the power to the people to decide whether they will accept the hopper.
“We must accept that sometimes the frog doesn’t want to jump but is forced to jump. It could be that they were sacked,” said the former deputy speaker.
She drew parallels between party-hoppers and the process of replacing them by returning the referendum to voters with Islamic divorce procedures.
Under Islamic teachings, once a couple has divorced, they will undergo a period known as “idah” which gives the couple around three months to decide whether they will proceed with the separation.
Similarly, Azalina said that the Election Commission (EC) shall lay out a referendum to the voters of any constituency where their representative has hopped through a petition on whether polls should be called there.
If the petition finds that the people want to replace their representative, the EC shall then call for an election. Otherwise, they can maintain the same MP or assemblyman, which will help save costs instead of running a by-election.
This will also translate to the party level; in the event a political party abandons its coalition like what happened with Pakatan Harapan when Bersatu left it, and with Pakatan Rakyat when PAS decided to exit.
During her speech, Azalina also dedicated a pantun (poem) to the political frogs:
Lompat si katak lompat,
Lompat di dalam perigi,
Lompat jangan tak lompat,
Nanti tak sempat menjadi. – The Vibes, September 15, 2021
.@AzalinaOthmanS says the anti-party hopping Act must be implemented as soon as possible.
— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) September 15, 2021
She follows up with a poem.
"Lompat si katak lompat,
Lompat di dalam perigi,
Lompat jangan tak lompat,
Nanti tak sempat menjadi."
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