Party hopping rule draws mixed views from MPs

The decision by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to alter the law to allow MPs to hop from one party to another has drawn mixed reactions from lawmakers.

Suna East MP Junet Mohammed and Kibwezi East MP Jessica Mbalu said the move was retrogressive as it would be against party democracy and would breach the trust elected leaders enter with parties before election time.

“Institutionalising party hopping is perpetuating political dishonesty. The committee should not look at the here and now but make laws for posterity,” he said.

He said the committee, led by Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga, should come up with a mechanism that requires MPs to collect a certain number of signatures from their constituents before shifting allegiance so as not to betray their trust.

(READ: MPs push for law change to allow party hopping)

Ms Mbalu said contestants should only be allowed to change parties six months before an election but not when in office.

BUILDING CONFIDENCE

“MPs should be loyal to their party and its constitution while in office. Dancing to another tune while still a member of the party on whose ticket you joined Parliament is unfair because it is the same party according members privileges such as committee membership and other leadership positions in Parliament,” she said.

Mr Mohammed said MPs who feel they are popular should resign and seek re-election on their party of choice.

However, Gichugu MP Njogu Barua said the party-hopping phenomenon was a manifestation of lack of objectivity and democracy in political parties, most of which operated on the whims of their party leaders.

He said parties need to build confidence with the electorate by maintaining certain standards such as a proper party register and values, saying the electorate often lacked confidence in such outfits, as it was difficult to ascertain the outcome of their internal processes such as primaries.

“The ball is in the court of political parties. Let them build the necessary confidence in the electorate by coming up with strong party structures,” he said.

He said so long as “weak” parties existed that often did not give equal opportunities to all members regardless of status, aggrieved members would feel compelled to cross over to other outfits, whose ideology and structures, were more attractive.

LACK OF GOOD FAITH

Kiharu MP Irungu Kang’ata said party hopping indicated lack of good faith in individuals who arbitrarily shifted allegiance, saying by the time they did so they had already benefited from the party including riding on its brand to get elected.

The habit also undermined party democracy since for one to belong to a party, one must have agreed to its ideals by getting well acquainted with its policies and agenda.

But looking at the political scene, it would appear that the decision of the Justice committee was long in coming, since the Registrar of Political Parties appeared unable to enforce the law and have members who shift allegiance lose their seats.

Some of the MPs who have openly defied the parties that helped them get elected include Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro, whose party, ODM, had to strip him of the powerful Chief Whip position in the National Assembly for reportedly engaging in activities with rival Jubilee.

Mathare MP Stephen Kariuki is said to be more active in Jubilee than in ODM, on whose ticket he won the seat.

The Registrar of Political Parties, Ms Lucy Ndung’u, was on Tuesday directed by committee members to include in the proposals to amend the Political Parties Act, the deletion of the provision stopping party hopping.

The registrar has had to watch helplessly because of the difficulty of implementing the law. It is hard to establish whether an MP has defected from one party merely by professing allegiance to another.