Party-hopping is not a crime in Sabah’s hunger games
(SELVARAJA SOMIAH) – It all started in 1967 when United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) was the 1st political party to practice party-hopping in Malaysia. Upko left Sabah Alliance. After the elections, Upko’s assemblyman for Kiulu, Payar Juman, crossed to Usno, enabling the party to form the government then. Tun Mustapha offered Payar the Social Welfare Minister’s post in the Usno government. Upko was then dissolved and merged into Usno in 1967.
Then in 1994, former Upko president Bernard Dompok from then opposition PBS joined the BN alliance to form the government. The PBS government collapsed.
Again in 2018, after winning their five seats on BN symbol, flags and manifesto, Upko decided to ditch the BN coalition. Yet again practiced party-hopping which caused Shafie Apdal to form the Sabah State Government despite Musa Aman legally appointed the Chief Minister of Sabah.
And so Upko lived up to this image of unprincipled politics.
Regardless of how they defended it, by removing the Anti-hopping Law in the early 90s’, Dr Mahathir had allowed this unhealthy culture of party-hopping to be institutionalise in Sabah. Voters and political parties had no legal remedy at the moment due to a 1992 ruling by an apex court that had legalised party-hopping. Dr Mahathir even said, “we are a democratic government, we believe in democracy and democracy allows even frogs to jump.” The term “frog” or “political frog” is used to describe the act of a certain politician who had hopped from one party to another.
