If the French legislative elections seem eventful to you with unprecedented games of alliance, in Malaysia, the French situation could seem almost boring. In this parliamentary monarchy, accustomed to the multiple betrayals of its elected officials, demands are now being heard to fight against what is nicknamed the phenomenon of “frog” deputies. They are parliamentarians who do not hesitate to jump from one political side to another depending on the circumstances, hence their name “frog”.
In recent years, this practice has caused a rather grotesque situation. To understand how, you must first know that in Malaysia, the Prime Minister, head of government, is also always the leader of the parliamentary majority. But in 2018, for the first time, it was held by the opposition after elections in which UMNO, the party that has reigned over Malaysia since Independence, lost, entangled in a gigantic corruption scandal. Rebound! Two years later, 40 “frog” deputies changed everything by leaving the new coalition in power to join forces with UMNO, which thus came to power again, without new elections.
In all this political hustle and bustle, one MP in particular concentrates the anger of voters: Azmin Ali, now Minister of Commerce. His change of party may have been particularly surprising because he is a founding member of the historical opposition party in Malaysia and he seems to have played a key role in the change of parliamentary majority.
For all these reasons, some of these voters decided to file a complaint against him. Only problem, changing party is absolutely nothing illegal. The lawyer for these voters, Yohendra Nadarajan therefore chose to use a very specific charge: “In this case, we are filing a complaint against this MP in particular for ‘deception’, because this MP campaigned by assuring that he would never ally himself with the outgoing government whose corruption he condemned and all that allowed him a resounding victory, so these voters today feel betrayed.”
Such a complaint is totally unprecedented in Malaysia and it raises many questions such as: “Will the plaintiffs have to prove that they voted for this deputy? What is the legal value of promises made during political rallies?…”, raises the lawyer. A bill could prohibit the change of party in Parliament. This would be a way of guaranteeing more stability but also confidence before the next elections which will take place this year or next year. The bill was to be discussed in April in Parliament but was rejected. It would require modifying the Constitution which guarantees freedom of association and is finally not unanimous among parliamentarians. This month, for example, a Malaysian daily headlined: Such a law is not necessary, assures a deputy “frog”.