.JPG "Barisan Nasional leaders pose for the cameras after the coalition was declared winner of the Melaka state election in Ayer Keroh November 20, 2021. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri")
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 ― The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which swept 21 out of 28 seats in the Melaka election tonight, intends to enact an anti-party hopping law when the state legislative assembly convenes.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the proposed law is needed to ensure the political stability of the state’s future ruling coalition, in a reminder that the just-ended state election was triggered by four assemblymen who switched allegiances in October.
“I would like to announce that BN will be proposing a number of measures focused on the transformative agenda and the strengthening of political stability in the state.
“In the first state assembly meeting, BN will be proposing an anti-hopping enactment to curb the issue of allegiance switching among assemblymen.
“Second, to strengthen the cooperation between assemblymen to ensure the state assembly lifespan is maintained for at least four years from the date of the first sitting,” he said in a news conference broadcast from the BN election base in Melaka right after the Election Commission (EC) announced the official polls results.
Ahmad Zahid also said BN will also be introducing a “constructive vote of confidence” to make certain the state government remains intact.
A constructive vote of confidence ― a variation on the motion of no confidence ― would require that any claim by an assembly member to enjoy a majority, or that a majority has been lost, must be tested in the legislature rather than outside the assembly.
The principle is intended to ensure an administration’s stability by making sure that a replacement has enough majority support to govern.
The EC confirmed the BN won the simple majority of 15 seats a few minutes shy of 10pm.
In the official tally, BN secured a total of 21 out of 28 seats, followed by the Pakatan Harapan coalition with five seats, and Perikatan Nasional with two seats.
BN’s 21 seats also meant that it possessed two-thirds majority in the state assembly.
Pengkalan Batu was the last seat to have its results confirmed. BN’s Datuk Kalsom Noordin won the five-way fight by a narrow margin of 131 votes.
She scored 4,839 votes against her closest rival Muhamad Danish Zainudin from Pakatan Harapan who polled 4,709 votes.
BN’s chief minister candidate Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali also successfully retained his Lendu seat with an overwhelming majority of 3,104 votes over his closest competitors.
