Speaking at the ‘Malaysia Democracy Forum’, former federal territories minister Khalid Samad and Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan both said new laws could combat some of the growing disillusionment among the public towards politicians.

Khalid, the MP for Shah Alam, said recall elections would be the best way for elected representatives who want to leave their party, as such a system would allow them to contest in a by-election under their new banner and with a different agenda.

“They should resign and be able to recontest under a new ticket. If they can win on a new ticket, then obviously they have the moral right to say they represent the electorate and the people in the constituency.”

He added that to stop party-hopping, the people must also voice their disagreement at the ballot boxes and show that hopping will cost politicians their seats and discourage parties from cooperating with those willing to swap allegiances.

Shahril said that party-hopping, which has been “super rife” over the last few years, has added to the discontent caused by other factors like double standards and party infighting.

“(Hopping) has never been so consequential as it has been in the last few years. It has happened, let’s not be naïve about it, but this time around, the impact has been quite clear and obvious.”

Last February, the switching of allegiance led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan-led government.

Khalid said the next general election must be a “campaign against party hoppers, traitors and those who support them,” and said parties must only put forth candidates who are committed to their party’s policies and uphold their promises.