Minister moots anti-hopping law to end debate on political coup

An anti-hopping law could be the answer to the never-ending debate on the legitimacy of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government after it took over Putrajaya, according to Communications and Multimedia minister Saifuddin Abdullah.

In a live-stream interview with Sinar Harian, Saifuddin said he saw a heated debate over the issue by various quarters.

"For instance, some said (PN) has more votes if (we were) to add up the total votes obtained by PAS and Umno as compared to Pakatan Harapan. That's the argument," he said.

"Another argument was that the democracy of Malaysia is where the first past the post (FPTP) system is used in determining the general election result instead of the majority (of total votes obtained by parties)," he said.

Saifuddin (above) then cited a constituency contested by three candidates where A, the elected candidate obtained 40 percent of votes while B and C, the two other candidates secured 30 percent of votes respectively.

"The elected (candidate) is the one who obtained 40 percent of votes, but if (we) were to add up the total votes of B and C, they won (the election)," he said.

"So, I think there is no ending to the debate. However, it could be possibly ended if there is a law prohibiting members of parliament from hopping," said Saifuddin.

"Maybe this could be one of the ways to stop not only such acts (party-hopping) but also the debate (of government legitimacy)," he said.

"I am more interested in the discourse of how to improve, stop, or minimise such matters and one of the ways is to formulate laws that prohibit the people's representatives from hopping, be it at the parliamentary or state level," he said.

Saifuddin said some western countries, which practise different systems, only negotiate to form their government after the polls.

Saifuddin quit Umno to join PKR in 2015 and then left PKR in February together with former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali. He is now the Indera Mahkota MP for Bersatu.

His comments were made amid speculation that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamand and Warisan allegedly secured 129 MPs on their side to reclaim Putrajaya from PN.

The Harapan government collapsed in February after Muhyiddin Yassin took Bersatu out of Harapan, while Azmin Ali and 10 others quit PKR. Together they sided with Umno, BN, and PAS to form PN.

When asked about his feeling if he were accused of being a traitor, he said anyone who is accused as such will be saddened.

"If we were to accuse (someone), let it be fair as something like this happened before," he said.

"I am not dismissing their rationale behind such accusations. That's their rights and I have to bear whatever (consequences) caused by my action but we must be fair as there were reasons (behind this).

"That's why the government cannot act as though it is smart but we need to be humble," he said.

He said PN toppled Harapan as it was a "failed" administration.

"We would not topple (it) if it hadn't failed," he said, adding that Harapan collapsed due to the power struggle within the coalition that led to the resignation of Mahathir as premier.  - Mkini