If the government does not look into amending the anti-hopping law, “we can look into holding recall elections” said Mohamad, according to Bernama.

He said recall elections could be held when MPs or assemblymen are not aligned with the party on whose ticket they were elected. “The voters in that area can hold a referendum on recalling the MP, and if they get more than 50% support, the seat has to be vacated and an election held again,” said Mohamad, who is also referred to as Tok Mat.

He was commenting on the decision of the Dewan Rakyat speaker not to vacate the seats of six MPs formerly with Bersatu.

Mohamad said Speaker Johari Abdul, was well within his rights to make such a decision.

“The speaker has power in Parliament, and it’s the same in the state assembly,” he said. “That’s why when this case was brought to court, the court informed them not to interfere because this is a legislative matter, not a judicial one.”

On Wednesday, Johari said Bersatu’s removal of the six members who declared support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim did not amount to party hopping under the law and the six MPs are not required to vacate their seats.

The six MPs are Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang).

Yesterday, Anwar said the government is open to amending the anti-hopping law to plug any existing loopholes.

He said when the anti-hopping law was being drawn up Bersatu had opposed the automatic vacation of seats for terminated members, which led to exceptions being included in the law.