By Dr Toh Kin Woon
The Edge Business Weekly
At the time of writing this article, I learned from the electronic media that 3 State Assemblypersons from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the Perak State Legislative Assembly have resigned from their respective parties. 2 of them resigned from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) while the third left the Democratic Action Party (DAP). According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, these 3 will be ‘Barisan Nasional (BN) friendly’ independents in the State Legislative Assembly. By this is meant that they will support the BN, even though they are ‘independents’. Their so-called independence is not so independent after all! Meanwhile, the State Assemblyperson from the constituency of Bota, who earlier announced his resignation from UMNO to join PKR, has now returned to UMNO. With these shifts, the number of seats held by the PR has now been reduced from 31, all popularly elected by the people in the last General Election, to 28. The BN still keeps its original 28, with the remaining 3 having declared themselves as so-called independents.
His Majesty the Sultan’s Decision
Confronted with this new balance of forces, the Menteri Besar (MB) from the PR has rightly called on His Majesty the Sultan of Perak to dissolve the Assembly so that fresh elections can be called to resolve the impasse.. But His Majesty rejected the MB’s call. Instead, he has consented to appoint a leader of the BN, which has all but one of its assemblypersons from UMNO, to be the new MB. In fact, the new MB has already been sworn in. This decision of His Majesty the Sultan is likely to cause widespread frustration and disappointment among his subjects in Perak and people in the rest of the country. If public opinion polls are anything to go by, an overwhelming majority of the people would like fresh elections to be called. They would like the power to decide who, from which political party, should represent them in the State Legislative Assembly, be returned to them. By not giving the royal assent to dissolve the Perak State Legislative Assembly, as requested by the Menteri Besar from the PR, His Royal Highness has denied the people their right to choose their representatives to the Assembly. Some legal experts have also argued that the MB from PR cannot be asked to step down until a motion of no-confidence has been passed in the State Legislative Assembly against him and his government. Many precedents have confirmed this legal view.
Why Such Misdemeanour among the Party Hoppers?
Hopping from one party to another, dubbed as turncoatism in the Philippines, has happened frequently in Malaysia. Often, those who jump from one party to another do not have the decency to resign to allow for by-elections to be called. Perhaps, they are discouraged from doing so as the law in Malaysia does not allow a sitting member of the legislature who resigns to contest an election until 5 years later. But by not resigning his or her legislative position after quitting the party under whose banner a state assemblyperson was elected, he or she has committed several major errors. One is to betray the trust of the people who elected him or her. The other is to deny the people’s right of evaluating the action of the legislator and the party that enticed him or her over, as well as who should represent them in the legislature. Often, some legislators forget that the legislature they sit in is called in some countries as the House of Representatives, that is, they are representatives of the people. But, why do some legislators hop from one party to another, one might ask? One is political opportunism. They jump because of pecuniary gains offered by the party, usually the ruling or would be the ruling party, should he or she cross over to it. The party that lures them to cross over might have promised them a high position in the government or even lots of cash. It could also be that their shift of allegiance is the result of a bargain not to pursue an action against the hopping legislator, who has been charged or is under investigation for a criminal offence. Some hop because of irreconcilable differences with some of their old party leaders. These differences could be personal, or due to the hoppers being by-passed for senior positions in the government. There are the odd cases, however, of people leaving because they could no longer agree with the political principles, positions and practices of their colleagues in the party from which they have resigned. These people leave their party over principles and not for opportunistic or personal reasons.
The Essence of Democracy
Among the reasons, it is the party hopping for personal monetary or political gains on the part of the hopper, and gaining state power on the part of the party that lures them over, that is most despicable. People generally despise such behaviour, both on the part of the party that lures the hoppers and the hoppers themselves. What has happened in Perak was a case of the BN luring a few PR State Assemblypersons to cross over to its fold in order to gain control of the state government. This is clearly a very undemocratic way to gain power, for democracy, in its classical meaning, is “rule by the people”. In an effort to explain how it is technically possible for the people to rule, Joseph Schumpeter came up with his pathbreaking empirical and procedural definition of democracy, or more precisely the democratic method, as “that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote.” So seeking the people’s votes or support to gain state power is the key essence of democracy, and not by way of luring elected representatives to jump ship.
How Can We Stop Unprincipled Party Hopping?
Luring is one thing. The legislators targeted must not be so easily lured. One way to achieve this is for political parties to strengthen their political programmes and ideology and take steps to ensure that their members, especially those who seek elected legislative office, not only subscribe but are committed to them. A good example of a party with a strong ideological base is PAS. We may not agree with its ideology, but it has to be acknowledged that all who have joined PAS are committed to fighting for the party’s cause. This explains why the PAS government managed to survive in Kelantan, despite having the slimmest of slim majority of only one during the latter part of its tenure from 2004 to 2008. I am sure attempts must have been made then to get a few of its state assemblypersons to leave, yet none of the PAS representatives took the bait. This was because they were all ideologically committed to the cause of PAS. To reduce crossovers, political parties must, therefore, have a strong ideology, which must then be inculcated in the party’s leaders and members. The socialist parties of yesteryears used to have a strong ideological base, too. Party members chosen to contest for elections must also have strong ethics and morals. If they have, they will know that betraying the party for opportunistic reasons is both immoral and unethical, even if it is not yet illegal. Another way is to have an anti-hopping law, which makes party hopping illegal. This is not likely as long as the BN is in control of the Federal Government. Still another way is for the people to send a strong message of disapproval to the party that has frustrated and denied them their choice of the party or coalition they have elected to govern. The BN has, in this instance, denied the people of Perak their choice of PR as the party to govern them. The BN must be told in no uncertain terms that this action is undemocratic, unethical and immoral. Those who have jumped and betrayed them for personal gains must also be rejected. I am sure and confident that this is what the people are going to do and will do in the next General Election.
(The author is currently a visiting research fellow under the Asian Public Intellectuals’ Senior Fellowship at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and the Ateneo de Manila University)
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