KUALA LUMPUR: The government should amend parliamentary rules while it still has the power to do so, says Ronald Kiandee (PN-Beluran).
He called for equal constituency allocations for all MPs to be guaranteed by law, easier access to no-confidence motions in the Dewan Rakyat, and amendments to the anti-hopping law.
Kiandee said constituency allocations should be protected by law to ensure opposition MPs receive the same funding as government MPs, regardless of which party is in power.
He admitted that Barisan Nasional had failed to do this when it was in government, leaving its MPs without allocations after the coalition lost power in the 2018 general election.
“We wanted to cry then, but it was our own fault for not making it the law,” he said during the debate on the 2027 budget in the Dewan Rakyat.
“While you are still in office and have the power, you can make certain amendments to improve the situation. This will ensure that what happened in the past does not happen again.”
He also called for changes to parliamentary rules to prevent no-confidence motions against the government from being sidelined.
On the anti-hopping law, Kiandee said it had failed to stop political defections while penalising MPs such as himself, who had been suspended by their parties but were unable to pursue new political alliances.
“The anti-hopping law has not stopped defections, but it has punished those of us who have been mistreated by our parties,” said the suspended Bersatu vice-president.
Kiandee urged the government to act before it was too late, warning that its MPs could one day face the same restrictions and funding issues if political power changed hands.
“If there is a change of government, they will complain just as we are complaining now,” he said.