KUCHING, Oct 5 — Voters should stop voting election candidates who are known to be hopping from one political party to another, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He believes that if voters adopt such an attitude, there will not be a need to come up with anti-hopping laws in the country.

“It is a good law. But for me, it is the voters who ultimately decide. If you see someone who has been hopping from party to party, you should not vote for them. That means they are not worth voting for.

“Even without such law like this, it is the people holding the power (with their votes). When we bring such law to the Parliament and the DUN (State Legislative Assembly), we are making ourselves look bad. That is my observation.

“Western countries do not have such law, because the voters ‘guna akal’ (use common sense). Sometimes those of us in the Eastern countries, we do not use such common sense. It looks like those who jumped parties, they still have people voting for them (and this makes) the people to look stupid,” he told reporters here today.

Abdul Karim, who is also youth, sports and entrepreneur development minister, was asked to comment on the enforcement of the constitutional amendment prohibiting the political defection of elected representatives which took effect from today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had approved the effective date of the Constitution Act (Amendment) (No.3) 2022 for October 5, 2022 in accordance with Section 1(2) and Section 1(3) of Act A1663.

Following the enforcement, any MP who changes party will fall under this law.

According to media reports, the prime minister will issue a circular which orders all states to have streamlined laws using the amendments which have been enacted at the federal level.

Commenting further, Abdul Karim said this new law cannot be enforced if the Parliament is dissolved anytime soon as the MPs would cease becoming elected representatives.

“If the Parliament already dissolved, the incumbent MPs can switch parties (without losing the seats). But if they do it before the dissolution, they will cease becoming MP and have to vacate their seats

“For example if today they are from DAP and Parliament has been dissolved today, they can go to other parties to contest,” he said.

Informally named the anti-party hopping law, the constitutional amendment was passed by the Dewan Rakyat of the Parliament on July 28 with more than two-thirds majority.

It was mooted as a bipartisan response to the so-called “Sheraton Move” of 2020, when political defections caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

The collapse led to Perikatan Nasional coming to power unelected before the coalition was itself forced to yield last year to the Barisan Nasional that was voted out in the 14th general election.

The law was also part of the memorandum of understanding signed between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the PH coalition.

The new amendments will cause MPs and state assemblymen to lose their seats if they switch parties, or if they join one after being elected as an independent.

There are three exceptions, however, namely the dissolution or cancellation of the registration of the politician’s party; the expulsion of the politician from his party; or the politician resigning from his party upon becoming Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat or his respective state assembly. — Borneo Post