The rakyat are now wondering what the end game of the country’s democracy will be, he said, adding that “the last thing people want to hear about is political turmoil”.
Malaysia was still a young democracy compared to well-established countries like the UK and the US but “we do face challenges to reach maturity in terms of democracy,” he said during the Malaysia Democracy Forum.
The forum titled “Charting the future of parliamentary democracy in Malaysia” was organised by the International Strategy Institute.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim gave a keynote address at the forum while former prime minister Najib Razak will give a closing address later today.
Anifah, the president of Parti Cinta Sabah, said a sticking point was the ambitious politicians crossing from one party to another “without any regard to the mandate of the people who voted”.
“As these politicians’ party-hop to join government parties, the people wonder whether the government has become completely oblivious to the sentiments of the ordinary citizen.
“It is said the emergency was declared to temporarily halt the political wars going on so as to fight the pandemic,” he said, reminding politicians that people are tired as their income levels have dropped following the pandemic.
Unfortunately, Anifah said party-hopping cannot be stopped as it is constitutionally allowed.
However, he said, his party had pushed for a recall petition, where any elected representative who wishes to hop to another party would automatically lose the seat, besides being sacked from the party and post. He may then contest a by-election under a new ticket.
“If we can table the enactment of a recall petition, we can set the criteria for recall that would allow constituents to recall their elected representatives if they are deemed to have not delivered their mandates, including switching parties,” the former foreign minister said.
“It would be like companies hiring and firing a worker. Constituents can hire or fire their representatives under the recall petition,” he added.