“There is a chance that this will be a close election, with the winner having a small advantage in terms of seats. We do not want any party hopping to take place after the election.
“We call on all contesting parties to make a cross-party pledge that they will not take in frogs after the election,” said Bersih 2.0 chairman Thomas Fann in a virtual press conference today.
Bersih 2.0 also issued a five-point challenge to all contesting parties, including reforms that need to be implemented in Melaka to guarantee political stability and discourage party hopping.
It called for enactments to control party hopping to ensure political accountability and allow recall elections to be held in the state.
“Recall elections will allow the Melaka voters to decide whether their elected representative who jumps to another party should stay or be removed,” said Fann.
The other four challenges are:
- Amend the state constitution to make a confirmatory vote of confidence mandatory for the chief minister to ensure his legitimacy and prevent any attempts to topple him.
- Amend the state constitution and the rules of the state assembly to introduce a constructive vote of no confidence.
- Guarantee equal constituency development funds (CDF) for all assemblymen regardless of their political affiliation.
- Reform the state assembly to ensure its independence from the executive branch by forming house select committees with proportional representation of government and opposition assembly members, and ensure the agenda of the assembly is finalised after consultation with all political parties.
The Melaka state assembly was dissolved by governor Mohd Ali Rustam on Oct 5 after four assemblymen withdrew their support for then chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali.
The four are former chief minister Idris Haron (Sungai Udang), Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor), Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas), and Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu).