MCA drafting recall election bill to discourage defections

 

MCA is currently drafting a new law designed to discourage elected lawmakers from defecting.

Dubbed the House Of Representatives Recall (HORR) Bill, this draft law aims to allow voters to force a recall vote under two conditions:

1) The elected representative commits an offence prescribed in the law or is convicted of a minor offence not amounting to disqualification under other laws; and,

2) A recall petition to the Election Commission is supported by 10 percent of the electorate.

If any of the two conditions are fulfilled, a recall vote has to be called. The vote only succeeds if at least 25 percent of the electorate turns up and half of them vote for a by-election to be held.

In a statement today, MCA secretary-general and MCA Bill Committee chairperson Chong Sin Woon said this proposed bill, if passed, can make Malaysia more democratic.

"We believe that the introduction of this Bill will make MPs more accountable for their actions, lest they risk being recalled," he said.

Chong said there are similar laws in the United Kingdom and Taiwan.

MCA is the latest to join Bersih, academician Wong Chin Huat and former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Azalina Said Othman in demanding that a recall vote be instituted.

Since the 2018 general election, there have been dozens of defections, leading to 18 MPs defecting from Umno to Bersatu, the "Sheraton Move" and government changes in Perak, Kedah, Sabah, Malacca and Johor.

Chong said that their bill is still a work in progress.

He did not reveal when MCA will compel their lawmakers to table a Private Member's Bill on the matter.

Meanwhile, Chong said MCA was also studying other legislations relating to the decriminalisation of suicide, reforming the University and University Colleges Act 1971 and the National Land Code, among others.

"MCA has always been a party of service, and the success of this bill relies on the support of like-minded lawmakers who wish for a better, fairer Malaysia," he said. - Mkini