ADVANCING DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATION, STABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY: Regulating Change of Party Affiliation in Malaysia

While the prevalence of party-hopping frustrates and angers many Malaysians, leading to a national consensus for some Anti-Hopping Law (AHL) before the 15th General Election (GE15) at all costs, the issue is complex and deserves some humble and prudent deliberations. Party-hopping is just symptomatic of political changes and potentially instability, the management and treatment of which must take precedence of fixing the symptom. 

This paper aims to provide a conceptual analysis on various forms of party affiliation change and various remedies, followed by a detailed proposal on what constitutional and legal changes Parliament should consider to undertake to advance democratic representation, stability and accountability.

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