Various quarters have come out to condemn the practice of party hopping by elected representatives following the outcome of the 14th general election.

Electoral reform coalition Bersih stressed that the practice goes against the principle of elections, in which representatives are chosen by voters on the basis of his or her party affiliation, principles, and manifesto.

"If elected representatives wish to change their position with regards to the party that he or she represents, the elected representative must resign and vacate the constituency, and allow voters to decide on their choice of new representative," said Bersih in a statement today.

Bersih also noted that voters in Sarawak had, during the 2016 state election, given their mandate to BN to form the state government.

"Any changes of position or coalition in state should be done via a fresh election process," said Bersih.

'Defections ill-advised'

Separately, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh said the defection of BN state and parliamentary representatives to the newly minted Harapan government is ill-advised and ought not to be condoned.

"With the greatest of respect, the true reforms which Harapan needs to embark on in its quest to save Malaysia must exclude such BN representatives, as they were the very ones who condoned and supported the regime under former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak which Harapan finally toppled.

"Such BN representatives were complicit in the mismanagement of the country under BN, which is precisely why reforms are urgently needed now," he stressed.

Ramkarpal also warned that an influx of BN representatives to Harapan would see an erosion of confidence among the coalition's voters.

"Our voters’ choice and confidence is paramount and must be respected.

"I am confident that we have sufficient numbers and calibre within our ranks at present without the need to achieve a two-thirds majority in Parliament through BN defections," he said.

Ramkarpal also urged the new Harapan government to emulate the anti-hopping stance taken by the Penang state government when it introduced the country’s first anti-hopping law in 2012.

According to the law, a member of the state legislative assembly must vacate his seat if he resigns, is expelled from or ceases to be a member of the party that he was elected as a candidate of, with a few exceptions.

‘Don’t become BN 2.0’

In an open letter to Harapan leaders, human rights NGO Engage chairperson Thomas Fann said the rakyat did not wish to see Harapan become another "BN 2.0" after reports that several BN parties had broken ranks and planned to join Harapan.

Among others, he cited Sabah BN's component parties such as United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), who were said to be leaving BN to join Harapan.

"It is also rumoured that Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (PBB) is also contemplating a similar move," he noted.

"It would be a betrayal of the rakyat if the leadership of Harapan were to welcome any of these former BN parties and even elected MPs and state-assemblypersons into Harapan or membership of Harapan component parties.

"We want a new government, not a renamed BN consisting of the very same people we voted against in GE14," he said.