Twenty-two years ago in 1978, I moved a private member�s bill in Parliament to require a Member of Parliament to vacate his seat within 30 days and cause a by-election to be held on his resignation or expulsion from the party on whose ticket he was originally elected.
Such an anti-hopping law would go a long way to ensure political integrity of elected representatives. Elected representatives who believe that they have the support of the electorate in their defection should have no qualms or hesitation in having a by-election to seek a new mandate from the electorate.
DAP�s support for such an anti-hopping law is based on a matter of principle and has nothing to do with the "Two Lims" power-tussle between the Gerakan and MCA in Penang.
DAP and the Barisan Alternative will never oppose for the sake of opposition, and I hope the Penang State Government would have the political principle and courage to present such a constitutional amendment to the Penang State Constitution in the next Penang State Assembly.
(9/2/2000)