KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Former minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz has panned a proposal to allow elected lawmakers to change their political affiliations en masse under the newly-passed anti-party hopping Bill.
The Padang Rengas MP told Astro Awani in a talk show that allowing that goes against the whole objective of the Bill, which drew an overwhelming 207 ayes in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Instead, the Umno man proposed for MPs to maintain their political affiliations for five years — the set tenure of their election into public office — to honour the election choices made by their voters.
“Personally I believe we have to be committed to our coalition. If we enter the general election as a team, then of course during the period we are elected we must maintain our loyalty [to the team].
“Otherwise, what is the difference between one elected representative jumping, and several jumping as a group? It’s the same,” said Nazri during the Dialog Tiga Penjuru talk show aired on the Malay channel last night.
While Nazri did not spell it out, his remarks appear to be in response to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s reported proposal in Parliament during debate over the anti-frog Bill.
The Langkawi MP has suggested an escape clause in the Bill allowing whole-sale crossovers by lawmakers if their party leaders agree to it.
During the show, Nazri also suggested problems afflicting a party or a coalition must be resolved internally as part of their shared responsibility.
“If there is a problem, you will need to solve it because you have made a promise to the people. This is our team,” he said.
Nazri said that he took issue with certain parties that were originally part of a coalition and later made a decision to quit.
“If the party makes the decision to leave, then many frogs will be jumping,” he said.
His comment is seen as a veiled reminder of the mass exodus perpetuated by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia from the Pakatan Harapan coalition in early 2020.
Nazri said that the anti-party hopping law is meant to be a deterrent against shaking an elected government, adding that allowing exceptions to the rule may lead to corruption.
