FORMER de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has described Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul as being “incapable of behaving properly and totally unfit to discharge his duties fairly and effectively” by ruling that the six Bersatu MPs whose memberships were recently revoked need to vacate their seats.
What this means is that by-elections need not be held and they can continue to support the unity government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as they had openly pledged previously.
The six Bersatu MPs are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Datuk Zulkafperi Hanafi (Tanjong Karang), and Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan).
Rallying all opposition MPs to boycott Parliament immediately as “to let Madani rule as they please”, the opposition-slant UMNO member further accused the government of having wasted time and money amending laws to prevent MPs from disobeying party decisions.
“They told us (that) MPs won their seats as party members, hence if they refused to obey party rules, their seats would be vacated,” tweeted Zaid in reaction to a media conference by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who revealed Johari’s decision which was conveyed in a letter dated July 9 to the party’s chief whip Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.
“If our MPs had a scintilla of morals and ethics, and an ample dose of conscience, we need not have gone to great lengths to amend the laws. They should behave according to what is proper. Because they did not, we had to pass the anti-hopping law.”
As pointed out by some political observers, anti-hopping law does not apply here as it implies hopping from one party to another which is not the case.
Capitalising on legal loopholes?
In this case, the six Bersatu MPs did not hop but have an issue with their party which they will have to find an internal solution within that structure until such time they can chose to be independent – probably when they contest on their own come the 16th General Election (GE16).
Moreover, it can be argued that Bersatu had only amended its constitution after the anti-hopping law had been passed un the Parliament or way after the GE15, hence the so-called six turncoats MPs are not subjected to the amended law on the basis that the rule cannot be applied retrospectively.
In this regard, Johari is right in the sense that the six MPs only had their membership terminated in recent times when they did not sign the acceptance letter on Bersatu’s constitutional amendments.
But leveraging on the loopholes of the law – purportedly to prevent further dismal Pakatan Harapan (PH) performance in by-elections after the widening majority by of the Perikatan Nasional (PN)-PAS candidate in the recent Sungai Bakap polls – may not be an ideal long-term solution given a precedent has been set.
The decision can come back to bite PH and the unity government in that it may set the stage for more backdoor manoeuvres to upstage the government of the day.
“It cuts through both ways. MPs in the ruling coalition could also voice support for an opposition leader to be the PM without leaving their respective parties,” opined one political observer.
“It would be untenable for PMX to remain as PM if he has clearly lost the majority support of the MPs. We will be back to the days of the frogs and horse trading.”
Even vocal Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim described Johari’s reasoning as both flimsy and went against the aspirations of Malaysians to stop party hopping through amendments made to the Federal Constitution.
“It is very unfortunate and sad because the speaker’s decision is not supported by strong arguments,” the PH-Amanah lawmaker was cited as saying by Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
“I see the speaker making decisions based on partisan political interests that fail to respect legal fundamentals and the supremacy of the Federal Constitution.” – Focus Malaysia
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