NASARUDIN SHOULD ALLOW A BY-ELECTION

WHAT a week it has been for our political party leaders. First a defection by Umno man Nasarudin Hashim of the Bota state seat for PKR and now resignations as assemblymen with immediate effect from 5.45pm today by two PKR politicians who also happened to be Perak state excos.

There had much speculation about the latter two, with the story being that they will first become independents before joining Umno. Where they will head for politically is not clear at the moment but unlike Nasarudin, the resignations by Jamaluddin Mat Radzi of Behrang and Mohd. Osman Jailu of Changkat Jering allow the constituents to make a new choice. That is what everyone in Umno, which Nasarudin belonged to until until a week ago, is saying should be the way.

Jamaluddin and Osman may or may not join Umno. No one knows for now if they will be contesting again in the same constituencies in the by-elections. It will be payback time for Umno if they join the party, considering what Nasarudin has done, but there is no guarantee the two seats will be won by Umno or any of its Barisan Nasional allies. Let's not forget too that both excos are facing charges relating to bribery. It will not do Umno any good if they join the party while the case remains before the court, although that doesn't prove guilt.

But the resignations must be a jolt to PKR and Pakatan Rakyat after the exuberance and bragging rights that followed Nasarudin's defection and must be a dent to the egos of some in both parties because since the March 8 12th general elections, the tide until late this afternoon had been all against Umno and BN.

There are rumours that there will be more defections and this could happen not just in Perak. For once the Umno leadership must be sighing a big relief and feeling good about themselves after what they have been through in the last 10 months.

If I were a leader of some influence in Umno I'll pursue again the possibility of amending the federal Constitution to check-mate any elected political representative who defects after winning in an election. No doubt there was a case in which the Federal Court ruled that any anti-hopping law was unconstitutional and against the basic rights and freedom of a person to choose whichever party he wants to be a member of. The way out would be to try and include a clause that doesn't stop a defection but rather one that requires an elected representative to resign from his position as assemblyman or Member of Parliament if he wants to party hop. I am sure that will circumvent the provisions in the Constitution.

The federal government led by Umno, while not having a two-thirds majority in Parliament that would help it get a constitutional amendment through, can expect some support for such a proposal from some MPs in the opposition who have made known that they too are not in favour of party-hopping.

But there are also some who are saying that what Nasarudin did was something Umno and its allies deserved after what happened in Sabah in 1994 when some assemblymen from Parti Bersatu Sabah defected just as preparations were in place for the Joseph Pairin Kitingan-led party to form the state government after winning the state elections.

PBS was earlier part of the ruling coalition led by Berjaya but threw the BN coalition into disarray when it quit the coalition on the eve of the elections in 1990. Thereafter it became the government in Sabah. Kuala Lumpur was said to be the architect behind the defections and the man assigned to make sure that the plan succeeded was none other than now opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who was then deputy PM.

What goes around comes around but maybe the time has come to put an end to this nonsense, especially when someone like Nasarudin, who won on an Umno/BN ticket in March, refuses to vacate his seat while changing allegiances. Some amongst his constituents may object to this but cannot exercise their right to choose. The reputation of Jamaluddin and Osman may be tainted because of the court case but at least by resigning they show that they can also be gentlemanly.