KOTA KINABALU: Political observers express skepticism on whether the recently passed anti-party hopping law will effectively halt defections among elected representatives.
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Dr Oh Ei Sun said the law, even in principle, still does not stop “frogging-in-substance”.
“This is because (for example) an MP elected under a party’s logo could still go on and support as Prime Minister a candidate who is not supported by his or her party with impunity,” he said, when contacted on Tuesday (Aug 2).
“What I mean is the law leaves room where it could be circumvented such as the example given above.
“So, MPs with the intent to become ‘frogs’ while not actually crossing over will simply have to find the loopholes to do so,” he said, adding politicians will simply have to be more creative in evading the law when wanting to crossover.
By default, Oh said the law will also not make a difference at the state level even if the various state assemblies were to adopt the piece of legislation.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No. 3) 2022 was passed in Parliament last Thursday (July 28).
The Bill, which was aimed at creating a provision prohibiting MPs from changing parties, received the support of more than two-thirds of MPs, with 209 out of 220 MPs voting in favour of the law.
Following that, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar welcomed the intentions of four states to amend their respective state constitutions to enable the new anti-party hopping law to be enforced at the state level.
Saying this was a healthy step towards strengthening democracy, Wan Junaidi said he had been informed that the four states that would amend their constitutions were Sabah, Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan.
He said when the law is enforced later, it does not compel any state to adopt it but that they would be given the freedom whether they want to follow the move.
Another political observer who wished to remain anonymous said the anti-party hopping law needed to be tested in court first to really determine its effectiveness to stop crossovers.
He said MPs will find legal loopholes to justify that their move out of their respective parties were not within the ambit of the any anti-party hopping law.
He added that such issues will definitely surface in future and will be watched closely when they go before the courts.
“In India, such anti-defection laws are in place but many of their MPs and assemblymen have crossed over and completed their terms while such cases still sit in courts for a decision.
“If that happens here, the anti-party hopping law will not be effective in creating stable governments,” he said.
