Sabah Bersatu exodus will put anti-hopping law to the test

 

The exodus of Sabah Bersatu members from the party will put the anti-hopping law to the test.

Sabah Bersatu has five MPs, of which four contested under the Gabung Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition ticket, while another - Ronald Kiandee - contested under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) ticket.

The four who contested under GRS are believed to be part of the exodus, but whether Ronald - who is a Bersatu vice-president - is also quitting, is unclear.

Under the anti-hopping law, an MP loses their seat if they quit their "party". One exception is if they are sacked from the party.

Hence, for lawyer New Sin Yew, the four Sabah Bersatu MPs who contested under the GRS ticket will trigger anti-hopping laws if they resign from the party.

"They were elected as members of Bersatu. If they resign as members, they will lose their seats," he told Malaysiakini.

New's argument is that while coalitions are considered political parties - most individual party members are not registered members of a coalition.

This is similar to how Bersatu members who contested under a PAS logo - as they did in Kelantan - are not considered PAS members.

However, Bersih chairperson Thomas Fann argued otherwise.

"They contested under the GRS banner which is a registered coalition/party. They did not contest under Bersatu.

"The identification is what they informed the Election Commission (EC) when they submitted their candidacies.

"If they form a new party and leave GRS they would have to vacate their seats," he said.

Speaker will play a role

In either scenario, the existing protocol to vacate a seat is for Parliament to be informed of the matter, following which the Parliament would notify the EC.

This means the Dewan Rakyat speaker will play a role in deciding whether to notify the EC that the anti-hopping law was triggered.

At present, Azhar Azizan Harun - who was appointed under the PN administration in 2020 - is the presiding Dewan Rakyat speaker until the end of Dec 18 - and thus has the authority to notify the EC if Bersatu files a complaint with him.

A new speaker may only be appointed on Dec 19 when Parliament sits.

Whatever the decision may be, this matter is expected to go to court.

The decision by Sabah Bersatu members aligned with state chief Hajiji Noor’s move to quit the party due to their decision to back the Anwar Ibrahim federal government.

Bersatu at the federal level is in the opposition as part of the PN coalition.

The mass resignation will have no impact on the Sabah state legislature, as the state doesn't have an anti-hopping law as of yet. - Mkini