Party hopping without leaving the party?

With four Bersatu Members of Parliaments, namely Kuala Kangsar, Labuan, Gua Musang and Jeli expressing their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, it seems a new phenomenon has emerged – party hopping without leaving the party.

Bersatu suspended the membership of the Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament just as Umno suspended the membership of the Semberong Member of Parliament who was accused of betraying the party.

Both parties did not fire their elected representatives who had steered from the party's position because this would free them.

Under the anti-hopping law which is Article 49A in the Federal Constitution, if a Member of Parliament leaves the party voluntarily, then he will lose his seat and a by-election will have to be held.

If the elected representative loses membership automatically without a discretionary decision by the party leadership, then the law will be applied and elected representative will be punished.

The decision to exclude 'dismissal' as a kind of 'party exit' has its rationale.

If party leaders can arbitrarily dismiss elected representatives, then any government with a simple majority can bypass Parliament's monitoring.

This is because government backbenchers do not dare to disobey the party's decision even if the decision is detrimental or opposed by the voters.

The exemption of 'dismissal' from the law required by Bersatu during drafting was also for reasonable cause.

Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was fired from Umno for opposing 1MDB corruption and Bersatu did not want him to be labelled as a 'frog'.

Whether Member of Parliaments can take positions that differ from party, including on matters of confidence and the government's budget, is a related but separate question.

If the law controls the position of the people's representatives in all matters, then the people's representatives have lost their autonomy and become ‘pak turut’ or puppets of their party.

On the other hand, if elected representatives can support any party in the formation or dismissal of the government, without leaving the party, as is the case now, then the purpose of the law to guarantee political stability will fail.

This is the dilemma. Too strict, harmful. Too loose, will also be harmful.

To close this 'hole', DAP and Amanah have taken a very strict approach by amending the party constitution so that any elected representative who disobeys any party directive - not limited to issues of confidence and budget - in voting in Parliament or the State Legislative Assembly. Umno also took the same step after GE15.

Bersatu can also amend its constitution. However, members of Parliament for Kuala Kangsar, Labuan, Gua Musang and Jeli will remain in their seats even after the amendment of the party constitution.

As long as the opposition does not have enough representatives to topple the government, these three jumpers can continue to vote with the PN if there is a split - a vote that records which members support which party," he reasoned.

The government will win in a split, and PN's 74 votes (not just 71 votes) is meaningless, because everyone knows the hearts of the four representatives have already changed.

As this method is not effective in protecting the opposition, Bersatu cannot prevent the fifth and subsequent jumpers.

To prevent new symptoms of party hopping, PN needs to make peace with the government and mobilise institutional reforms that strengthen the party.

Professor Wong Chin Huat is the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN-Asia), Asia Office Deputy Chief (Strategy) at Sunway University. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.