At a press conference here, DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said this was to safeguard the party from a “loophole” in the anti-hopping law.

Under the anti-hopping law passed by the Dewan Rakyat last week, an MP who is sacked by the party does not need to vacate the seat, meaning the party loses the seat in the Dewan Rakyat.

Loke said this could lead to a situation where those intent on defecting intentionally created problems for their parties with the hope of getting sacked.

He said DAP was concerned about elected representatives who no longer supported the party but chose to remain in it.

“It would be worse (for DAP) if their (elected representatives’) decisions were supportive of other parties’ decisions and stand on issues,” he said.

He said precautionary measures were needed since there had been assemblymen in other states who had switched parties in the past.

Loke said opposition to the party and its leaders would be allowed, but elected representatives needed to behave in accordance with the party’s decisions in Parliament.

“Some might call DAP draconian for this, but it is only for very specific circumstances where fundamental issues are involved, such as electing the prime minister, or voting on the budget,” he said.

Asked to comment on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and Pakatan Harapan, Loke said the passing of the anti-hopping bill was a sign that the MoU was effective, but there were other unfulfilled conditions which were part of the agreement.

DAP will hold a special congress on Sept 25 to debate the proposed amendments to the party constitution.

We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.