Sabah Bersatu MPs breached anti-hopping law by quitting party

 

From Charles CJ Chow

If it is true, as reported, that the four MPs from Sabah Bersatu have quit the party, then they have breached the anti-hopping law.

The consequences are dire:

– The said MPs will cease to be members of the Dewan Rakyat;
– their seats will become vacant;
– by-elections will have to be held;
– Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s vote of confidence on Dec 19 will have four or five votes less.

The law is clear. The new Article 49A of the Federal Constitution states:

“49A. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Article, a member of the House of Representatives shall cease to be a member of that House and his seat shall become vacant immediately on a date a casual vacancy is established by the Speaker under Clause (3) if –

– having been elected to the House of Representatives as a member of a political party
– he resigns as a member of the political party; or
– he ceases to be a member of the political party; or …

Therefore, the relevant questions to ask are these:

– Were the four MPs members of the political party Sabah Bersatu when they were elected?
– Have they left Sabah Bersatu?

If the answers to the two questions above are “Yes”, then they have breached Article 49A(10)(a).

If so, what happens next?

An MP will have to give a written notice to the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat that there are casual vacancies in the House under this Article 49A.

The Speaker will then establish that there are such vacancies and notify the Election Commission (EC) within 21 days of the date he received the notice.

Such vacancies will have to be filled within 60 days from the date the EC receives the notification from the Speaker.

Under the anti-hopping law, it is irrelevant whether the four Sabah Bersatu MPs contested under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition or any other coalition.

What is only legally relevant is party membership and whether they have left their political party.

Really, one wonders why these Sabah Bersatu MPs have done this, knowing the anti-hopping law was now in force. Or perhaps they didn’t? Which is even more frightening. - FMT

Charles CJ Chow is an FMT reader and writes on law and other things that matter.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.