Bersih urges MPs to support Anti-Hopping Law

SHAH ALAM – The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) urge MPs to support the anti-hopping law, which will be tabled and enacted in the Parliament.

It chairman Thomas Fann said party hopping had always been a major problem in Malaysia’s political culture.

“Party hopping has always been a part of Malaysian political culture but has become a major problem since the Sheraton move last year.

“Since then, we have witnessed the fall of two federal governments and seven state governments as a result of the party hopping,” he said.

Thomas said to have good laws to deal with problems caused by party hopping, the political arena in the country must be guided by three principles.

“First, the heart of democracy is the choice of voters who elect their representatives.

“Second, freedom of association is fundamental in democracy, to freely express the collective will of their constituents, even if it means opposing the party leadership and leaving the party, must be protected.

“Third, discipline is important for the party to implement election promises, policies and make a clear stand as the opposition on issues of national interest,” he said.

Adding on, Thomas said people would not be interested in voting if laws such as the anti-party hopping law were in place.

“Without good anti-party hopping laws before GE15, many people will not be interested in voting in elections when the government can be decided after the election through defection.

“This will lead to a low turnout, which results in elected government getting a weak mandate from the people and it will face difficulties in the administration and implementation of important policies for the country,” he said.

Fann was speaking at a press conference organised by #RasuahBusters titled Six Political Demands #MalaysiaTanpaRasuah ‘Apa Dah Jadi?’ which took place at Kumpulan Karangkraf here today.

Other panellists present during the press conference were Rasuah Busters chief Datuk Hussamuddin Yaacub, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs Chief Executive Officer Tricia Yeoh and Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel.

Other than that, also present were Undi18 co-founder Tharma Pillai, Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) chairman Badlishah Sham Baharin and Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Dr Muhammad Mohan.