Nazri: Anti-hopping law won't work, party-list the solution
PARLIAMENT | Nazri Aziz (BN-Padang Rengas) has proposed that the Election Commission Act 1957 be amended to enforce a party-list system.
This, he said, would help end party-hopping “once and for all”, ensure political stability and curb the "buying" of MPs.
During his turn to debate the royal address in the House today, he said he personally disagreed with party-hopping as it was a transgression against the will of the people.
Rather than making party-hopping unlawful, which previous attempts had been declared unconstitutional, Nazri proposed an alternative where a constituency is tied to the winning party rather than the representative.
“I propose that we amend our EC act, we use a Westminster system in our elections and we have constituencies but if we can, let’s amend it so that there is no need to name individuals as candidates.
“Let’s contest based on party logos. A party-list (system). This will solve many problems,” he said.
Nazri elaborated that such a system would stop corruption as MPs could not be bought over.
“For example, when a government falls and they want support. For some MPs, this is harvest time. Why? Because they can sell their seats. They are open to being corruptible.
“But if we contest based on party logos, we can’t sell ourselves,” he said.
Nazri’s proposal received support from multiple opposition politicians including Mohamad Sabu (Harapan-Kota Raja), Hanipa Maidin (Harapan-Sepang) and Ngeh Koo Ham (Harapan-Beruas).
[More to follow]
