Stop Cross Over, Respect GE14’s Result!

31 Civil Society Organisations Joint Statement on 31 October 2018

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are deeply troubled by the revelation of UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had allegedly demanded dissolution of UMNO (baru) and crossover of UMNO (baru) MPs to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) in a meeting. PPBM supreme council member Abdul Kadir Jasin also claimed that 40 UMNO (baru) MPs might join PPBM.

We believe that any crossing over of MPs from an opposition party to a ruling party, or vice versa, is an act of subverting the collective democratic decision made by the Malaysian voters in the GE14 to bring about our country’s very first regime change in history.

Malaysian voters sent a clear signal in the GE14 that they rejected UMNO (baru)-led Barisan Nasional (BN) for returning to power and instead elected the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition who promised a series of institutional reforms. Therefore, the purportedly cross-over of 40 opposition MPs to the ruling coalition will be a betrayal of people’s mandate, serve only for the self-interest of PPBM and UMNO (baru).