(By Nazmi Suhaimi - September 30, 2020)
KUCHING: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) has taken steps to ensure its members, if elected, does not defect the party mid-term, said its president Voon Lee Shan.

“Parti Bumi Kenyalang is aware of the ills of money politics and has come with a mechanism to control or to discourage the party’s elected wakil rakyat to leave the party during their term of office.

“The party is placing a very heavy price on them in the event they ‘jumped ship’ or acted to the detriment of the party or the voters,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

He was commenting on the nation’s political situation where defections by elected representatives had led to multiple political crisis of late.

Voon lamented that Malaysia’s politics had shifted from democracy to plutocracy where the wealthy controls the society, buying votes from electorates.

“Democracy becomes meaningless and the votes no more sacred and no expression the true desires of the voters. Many are fed up with the ways many politicians got elected.

“Worst is, once elected, they switch camp leaving their colleagues angry, confused and in tears,” he said.

The one-time Batu Lintang assemblyman said living in a democracy, elected representatives might choose to ignore the trust of party and people who voted for them all in the name of freedom of choice and of association.

Voon also warned voters to not trade their votes for money as it would lead to the collapse of democracy.

“The voters only know the money they received from politicians is useful to them to relief some of their financial burdens and many cared not the impact of money politics on their lives and the nation,” he said.