By William Leong Jee Keen, MP for Selayang
The Morality of Members of Parliament Crossing the Floor
Response to Bar Council and Others
The Bar Council, Harris Ibrahim and Sean Ang are reported in the New Straits Times on September 10, 2008 to have said that Members of Parliament crossing the floor to join another party is legal but immoral. It is therefore necessary to draw the attention of the public to several fundamental principles with regard to the issue on the morality of MPs crossing the floor. Crossing the floor to sit as a member of parliament in another political party is nothing new in parliamentary democracies. It has been described as the height of treachery. It has also been praised as the stuff which parliamentarian heroes are made of. The great Sir Winston Churchill is perhaps the most famous parliamentarian to cross the floor and switch allegiance on more than one occasion. There is no dispute that crossing the floor for money or personal gain is both immoral and a betrayal of the voters’ trust. However, when the MP crosses not for personal gain but in the interest and welfare of his constituents then he should be commended.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — If it was put to a vote today, Gerakan members would choose to leave Barisan Nasional. That damning verdict was given by Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik, the party’s former president and most influential voice. but he added that this major decision will not be made until the issue has been debated exhaustively, and certainly not while emotions are still raw in the party which was decimated in Election 2008.
28, 2008