By : IDA LIM
KUALA LUMPUR : The Federal
Opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) yesterday said that it is clearly against the
practice of party hopping, where politicians shift their political allegiances
after being elected.
“We disagree with party
hopping, that is very clear. Pakatan never encourages people hopping from the
mandate,” said PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang (picture) in a press
conference after a PR secretariat meeting.
“What is the best way to do
it (prevent party-hopping), we will discuss,” Chua said, but added that “we are
not talking about party-changing as such, but we are talking about bribery...”
He was responding to
questions on whether PR will push for a nationwide anti-hopping law for
politicians.
Chua’s remarks come after
two senior Sabah MPs recently defected from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN)
coalition to pledge their support for PR.
“It is very different from
what has happened lately where people say they are no longer confident with BN,
(and that) they want to work with Pakatan,” Chua said.
“That is not party-hopping,
they do not hop because they have a position or...because they get payment from
anybody,”
In an apparent reference to
the Sabah lawmakers, he said, “They said very clearly they would not contest
under BN again in the next elections. The mandate is back to the people.
“If they make the right
move, they will be rewarded with winning. If they make the wrong move, they
lose the elections.
“There is no undermining of
basic democratic principles when you derive a mandate from the votes of the
people.”
Penang Chief Minister Lim
Guan Eng, who is also DAP secretary-general, recently said that his
administration is planning to enact anti-hopping laws in the state.(TMI)
No comments:
Post a Comment