Party-hopping without actually hopping

Shaky support: Iskandar Dzulkarnain (left) and Suhaili have thrown their support behind Anwar despite their own party being in Opposition to Anwar’s government. — Filepics/The Star

The new style in Malaysian politics is to declare support for your party’s enemy while not actually leaving your party.

HOW do you hop across to a different political party when there’s an anti-hopping law in place?

Let’s look at two recent cases of MPs possibly wanting to “hop”.

On Oct 12, Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid of Bersatu/Perikatan Nasional announced that he supported the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

On Oct 30, Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman of Bersatu/Perikatan also expressed support for Anwar’s leadership as well as that of Sabah Chief Minister and GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah) chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

Both MPs had similar scripts. They supported the unity government and, at the same time, their own party, Bersatu, which is in Opposition to the unity government. It is like they are still married to Bersatu but having a relationship with the unity government. In other words, politically promiscuous.

If the two MPs quit Bersatu and joined another party, under the anti-hopping law they would automatically lose their seats. However, if they remain in Bersatu but support the unity government, they remain MPs.

For them to be able to join another party without losing their seats, they have to pray for Bersatu to sack them.

Iskandar Dzulkarnain and Suhaili also gave similar reasons for supporting Anwar’s leadership – the usual “demi rakyat” (for the people).

The Kuala Kangsar MP said he declared support for the Prime Minister so that funds would be channelled to his constituents. The Labuan MP said he came to the decision upon considering all the problems faced by the people of Labuan, including the rising cost of living and continuous interruptions of water and electricity supply.

The anti-hopping law, which came into effect on Oct 5, 2022, was passed to stop MPs from betraying the trust of the voters who most likely voted for them because of the party they represented. So, did the two MPs betray the trust of those who voted for them? Does the rakyat believe they support the Prime Minister because of demi rakyat? Or for transactional reasons?

If Perikatan and Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin is to be believed, they “hopped” because the government intimidated or enticed them.

“We are gathering information as we took pictures of those who met us [the MPs. We want to see where these people are from,” Hamzah told the media on Friday.

To support his allegation, Hamzah brought two Opposition MPs with him to the press conference: Abd Rahman Ku Ismail of Kubang Pasu and Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh of Besut claimed that they were approached by “certain quarters” trying to entice them to defect to the unity government.

Anwar and the unity government have vehemently denied their claims.

Hamzah should know how the game is played. When Bersatu was in power, the party allegedly enticed or intimidated politicians from Umno, Parti Warisan and PKR to join it.

Bersatu has said it will decide what disciplinary action to take against the Kuala Kangsar and Labuan MPs. Sacking is unlikely as that would allow the MPs to hold on to their seats while joining another party.

When such disloyalty happened in Umno, it took no action.

For instance, Putatan MP and Tanjung Keramat assemblyman Datuk Shahelmey Yahya said in January that he supported the government of Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor even though Umno had tried to oust the Sabah Chief Minister.

Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin told the media back then that Shahelmey was persona non grata with the party. However, Umno did not sack Shahelmey. Because if it did – you guessed it – the MP would be free to join another party without losing his parliamentary seat.

Based on Umno’s non-action, Bersatu can’t do much about its shaky MPs either.

Yesterday, Bersatu suspended Iskandar for four years. Since the party do not have the political will to kick out a “promiscuous” politician, does it mean that if there is a no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister, unity government MPs could vote against Anwar?

Right now, the question is moot. It would only be possible to bring down Anwar’s government with the 23 MPs from GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak). And so far, it is “happy” with the unity government.

The feeling over the last few weeks is that Anwar’s government is more stable now as Perikatan lost its momentum after it couldn’t win seats in the three recent by-elections.

But politics in Malaysia is turbulent, especially with a new kingmaker reportedly taking centre stage. A nod from the influential figure could make MPs from the unity government support the Opposition. Because of “demi rakyat”, of course.