I won’t blame you if you are worried about the latest political development in the country. When some of you voted for Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 14th general election (GE14) last May 9, you expected their leaders to stick to their words that they would not repeat the mistakes of Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) government which they just defeated. But making a promise is one thing while keeping it is another.
PH had made a lot of U-turns and the backpedalling makes us wonder whether the leaders have forgotten their promises. They should take a leaf from an American businessman, Anthony Hitt, who is famous for his adage: “Keep every word you make and only make promises you can keep.”
A case in point is how Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has been trying to entice Umno turncoats. This appears to be majoritarianism in the making, which is definitely one of the greatest risks to the future of democracy in Malaysia.
Therefore, when several Umno Members of Parliament (MPs) jumped ship, members of PKR and DAP became understandably nervous. Who can blame them? Power is at stake when the struggle for it and political intrigues are allowed.
Bear in mind that the PH coalition won only 48 percent of the popular votes in the GE14. Thus, any disenfranchisement of opposition representatives is the disenfranchisement of the 52 percent of voters who didn’t vote for PH.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was quoted as saying he was not fond of having a two-thirds majority in Parliament and instead prefers a strong opposition amid the defection of Umno lawmakers.
Yet when asked by the media if the welcoming of Umno defectors by Bersatu was an effort to boost Pakatan Harapan’s numbers in the Dewan Rakyat, he said the entry of vetted Umno MPs into Bersatu would strengthen both the party and PH.
“So with their entry, maybe we’ll get the numbers we need,” he said then. Despite criticisms from political observers and the people that it is against the true spirit of democracy to accept political ‘frogs’, Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir argued that it was about being open to those who want to participant in the democratic process.
It is interesting to hear the different arguments and narratives that Bersatu used to justify actions that they were not in favour of when they were in the opposition.
Why is Bersatu receptive of Umno turncoats? Is it something to do with numbers? Numbers are very important in politics. Note that Bersatu won only 13 seats on May 9 but interestingly its leader was chosen as the Prime Minister. They have also been given important ministerial posts.
Currently the ruling coalition has 128 seats in Parliament with PKR having 50 seats, followed by DAP (42), Bersatu (17), Amanah (11), and Parti Warisan Sabah (9). PH allies, Star and Upko, has one seat each.
In the opposition bloc, BN now has 40 seats, with Umno controlling 37 seats, PAS (18), MIC (2), while MCA, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) have one each.
If many more Umno MPs jump ship the coming weeks or months, who can we depend on to keep an eye on the government? We need a strong opposition that can act as a watchdog. Can we depend on PAS to play the role?
A strong and responsible opposition would hold the ruling government in check and hold it accountable to the promises it made to voters. By knowing that somebody is always checking and scrutinising, it keeps the PH government on its toes.
PH realises that if it is not careful and make many blunders the opposition could take power in the next election.
We expect the opposition to act as a watchdog that scrutinises legislations and policies. They may do it to score political mileage but what matters to the rakyat is that it forces the government to come up with policies beneficial to them.
Really, we need a strong opposition to prevent any abuse by a super majority government. More importantly we need a strong opposition to prevent a repeat of the wrongdoings of BN when it was in power for 61 years.
Or have the voters and the people in general forgotten how BN bulldozed many things that were detrimental to them and the country in the long run?
The absence of a strong opposition is bad for democracy because there is a tendency for a powerful government to abuse its power.
A popular maxim reminds us that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Therefore, we should not allow party-hopping in the interest of democracy. If we condone it, it means that we betray the trust of the people who gave the mandate via their votes on GE14.
What’s the point of voting for certain candidates if, after they have won, they could act at their whims and fancies without any regard for those who gave them power?
It is morally wrong for elected representatives to switch camps midstream, but our MPs always use the loopholes in the constitution to justify their unprincipled and unethical acts.
If other countries could curb party-hopping, why can’t Malaysia? Doing so would promote political stability and integrity in the country.
In some countries, a turncoat has to give up his/her seat, but may come back via a by-election. Others are barred from holding any remunerative political post for their remaining tenure unless they are re-elected.
The Sabah State Legislative Assembly has in fact passed an anti-hopping law in 1986. However, some argue that the law violates Article 10 (1) (c) of the Federal Constitution that guarantees freedom of association.
In a nutshell, we should not condone party-hopping lest we destroy democracy and the New Malaysia that we are trying to build.
• Associate Professor Dr Jeniri Amir is a lecturer and a political analyst at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
