LETTER | MPs should focus on nation-building, not politicking

LETTER | With turmoil and natural disasters in various parts of the world, Malaysian parliamentarians are oblivious to the aftermath of military conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the earthquake in Japan, the tense military situation in the Taiwan Straits, and the disturbing trade war between the US and China.

All these events will cause serious uncertainties and disruptions in food supply, logistics, prices of goods, and most importantly, peace.

MPs are elected to work towards good governance and nation-building. Instead, Malaysian MPs are more engrossed with power. Political power ensures lucrative contracts and other self-interests.

With three changes of prime ministers and government in just as many years, the glaring flaws in our parliamentary system need to be rectified once and for all for the sake of the nation’s wellbeing and progress as any unstable government is viewed as a deterrent to investments and trade.

The much-talked-about anti-hopping law composed by our legal experts is flawed. Instead, it should be an “anti-allegiance” law as switching allegiance brings about the same effect without any adverse consequences.

MPs are elected based on the political party ticket. Hence, switching allegiance by supporting another party must be viewed as party-hopping, which is different from a whole party being in coalition with another party.

Thus, any elected MP who switches his or her allegiance must be treated as party hopping. The best approach is to bind any MP elected to his party for the whole term. Switching allegiance and party hopping is only possible if the MP resigns from their party and this resignation renders their seat vacant.

In other words, switching allegiance or party hopping will render their attempt not worth being sought after. In short, the PM and his government stay for the full term without disruption.

Statutory declarations should not be constitutionally acceptable in proving party support. Any attempt to change support must be by a vote of no confidence in parliament.

To effect a vote of no confidence, the resolution must be substantiated in writing by various strong grounds and proofs, such as:

• The PM or the sitting government is disrespectful to the king and the Malay rulers

• The PM or his ministers have committed treason

• The PM is guilty of corruption

• The PM is senile or medically incapacitated

It is high time that we stop treating Parliament as a playground for political clowns. They are elected to represent the rakyat and their task is nation-building.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.