KUCHING: A mechanism has to be put in place to ensure that politicians cannot use ‘development needs’ as a reason to leave their parties, said Universiti Malaysia Sarawak political science senior lecturer Dr Arnold Puyok.
Speaking to New Sarawak Tribune last Sunday (July 19th), he said using such reasoning, especially by lawmakers who were previously in the opposition, was very cliché.
“Why can’t federal government agencies be mobilised to assist the state opposition-held constituencies?
“Why must an opposition assemblyman subscribe to the ruling federal government’s partisan stance if he were to benefit from the development funds contributed by the non-partisan taxpayers’ money?
“This is not the first time that our politicians tell us that the reason for them to leave their parties was to fulfil ‘development needs’ of their electorates. The only possible way is to have a good working relationship with the ruling federal government,” he said.
Pointing out the need to construct a mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability on the usage of public funds, he said the mechanism must be specifically constructed to look at the facilitation of intergovernmental cooperation and distribution of development funds.
“Is it the system that needs to be changed in order to discourage party hopping due to unfairness in which development funds are distributed?
“If it is, to disincentivise an assemblyman from ditching his party, a mechanism has to be put in place to ensure that development aid is distributed fairly based on the pressing needs of the electorates.
“Let’s say if the assemblyman thinks that he is being discriminated against, he can lodge a complaint with an ombudsman body, say a grant commission (or whatever name is suitable) to specifically look at facilitating inter-governmental cooperation and distribution of development funds.
“This is something that can be looked into before an anti-hopping law is fully enacted. And if the ‘development argument’ is just a ‘cover’ to justify the above-said assemblymen’s craving for power and personal greed, the solution to party hopping could only be found if our society is ready for a cultural shift led by the new generation of leaders,” he said.
To promote a new political culture grounded by professionalism, ethics and accountability, he added that enacting the anti-hopping law was doable.
“It is already deeply rooted in our political culture. The present institutions and laws can be strengthened by establishing a strong mechanism that checks the conduct of politicians,” he said.
