Johor DAP rep likens defections to cancer, wants law to stop it

JOHOR DUN | The Johor government has been urged to legislate laws to prevent lawmakers from defecting, an act which he likened to cancer.

Cheo Yee How (Harapan-Perling) said Pakatan Harapan had campaigned to defeat BN but was now accepting them through defections.

He said Harapan should learn from what happened in 2009, where three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers defected and formed a new BN government.

"(At the time,) the people felt betrayed. To me, this is a serious matter and it can become cancerous over time. We have to do something.

"I don't agree with (defections), regardless of where they are from," said Cheo, when debating the state government's Budget 2019 bill today.

Three Johor Umno lawmakers joined Bersatu recently, a move which has drawn criticism, primarily because there was little justification to do so.

Immediately after the May 9 elections, Johor Harapan enjoyed a comfortable majority, winning 36 out of 59 seats in the legislative assembly.

Following this, three Umno lawmakers had resigned from their parties and became independent entities. They were eventually absorbed into Bersatu. They are (photo, from left) former Umno representatives for Sedili, Rasman Ithnain, and Johor Lama, Rosleli Jahari; and Alwiyah Talib of Endau.

Currently, the Johor government bench comprises 14 lawmakers from DAP, 11 from Bersatu, nine from Amanah and five from PKR. 

Previously at the federal level, de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said that a Federal Court ruling still applies against anti-defection prohibitions.

He cited the case of Nordin Salleh, a Kelantan state assemblyperson who defected from PAS to BN in 1992.

The Federal Court ruled that PAS' own anti-party hopping law violated Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees freedom of association. -Mkini