Despite criticisms that Penang state government's plan to enact an 'anti-hopping law' is unconstitutional, DAP chairperson Karpal Singh argued that the state government can take the matter right up to the Federal Court to review previous court decisions.

karpal singh pc penang 180312 In a statement issued today, the prominent lawyer agreed with critics that such legislation will violate Article 10(1)(c) of the federal constitution as declared by the Supreme Court in 1992 in the case of Nordin bin Salleh v Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan .

However, Karpal ( right ) said this does not mean the end of the matter.

“The Penang state assembly could go ahead and amend the state constitution to outlaw party-hopping, which is a scourge and a cancer which requires to be removed from the political topography of the country, and the sooner it is done, the better.

“The state government could take the matter right up to the Federal Court, the successor to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, to have the 1992 declaration in the case of Nordin bin Salleh reviewed.

“In my view, that decision requires reappraisal in the public interest. That declaration cannot stand close scrutiny having regard to logic and common sense,” he said.

Pakatan ready to amend constitution

Karpal also commented that the better solution would be for Barisan National (BN) to move an amendment to Article 10(1)(c) to exclude from its ambit party-hopping.

“Of course, a two-third majority is required for that purpose. On that score, there should be no difficulty in the Pakatan Rakyat providing for what the BN lacks in that regard,” he added.

The declaration in 1992 was a result of the amendment to Kelantan state constitution by the PAS-led state government in 1991 which revoked the qualification of assemblypersons if they lose their political party membership.

The amendment was challenged in court and the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 1991 held that the amendment was void as it was inconsistent with Article 10(1)(c).

The decision was later upheld by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court which said that the amendment contravened the right of association guaranteed under Article 10(1)(c).

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had on Tuesday announced that the Penang state assembly, in its November sitting, intended to legislate a law to prevent state legislative assemblypersons from defecting mid-term.

MCA: A publicity stunt

NONE Earlier today, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek slammed the move, deeming it a publicity stunt .

"When you go to the state assembly to amend the state constitution, it will look good and bring a lot of publicity... but they know it is against the federal constitution to restrict political freedom, it will be ultra vires.

"So, at the end of the day it is just for show and they will blame the federal government when they cannot do it," Chua told a press conference in Petaling Jaya.

Deputy chairperson of MCA publicity bureau Loh Seng Kok dared all Pakatan component parties to issue a joint statement denouncing defected elected representatives if they are sincere.

“I strongly urge Pakatan to honour Karpal’s political stand and issue a joint statement stating that Pakatan is firmly against party-hopping by elected representatives and to include it as part of their common policy framework.

“When several BN member of parliament (MP) from Sabah had decided to defect to Pakatan, nothing was said by Pakatan, and they had even openly welcomed the defectors despite Karpal’s earlier stand on party-hoppers,” said the MCA central committee member in a statement today.

malaysiakini interview loh seng kok 061108 04 Loh ( left ) pointed out that Karpal had stated the same stand when PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim claimed that Pakatan can take over the federal government as he had enough numbers of BN MPs to crossover on Sept 16, 2008.

“Therefore, if Pakatan parties DAP, PKR and PAS can claim to have principles, then why did they contradict themselves over the issue of the defection by some Sabah BN MPs? Is Karpal’s statement worth anything in Pakatan?

“It is not right for DAP to be playing a good cop-bad cop game regarding their national chairperson's stance, as it is blatantly obvious that Lim Kit Siang and his son are the real power holders within DAP, and are secretly supporting the defection of BN MPs as they are desperate to gain power by using tricks and ruses to take over Putrajaya,” he added.