Reformati? Malaysian speaker’s ruling sparks protest and fears of renewed politics chaos

Perikatan Nasional (PN), the Malay-nationalist opposition bloc that includes Bersatu, launched an armband campaign in parliament this week in protest of the speaker’s decision.

PN lawmaker Ermieyati Samsudin explained that they were wearing white ribbons around their left arms “as a protest against reformati”– a play on the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition’s slogan of “reformasi”, meaning reform in Malay, that sounds like “death of reform”.

Despite the protest, Islamist party PAS, another PN member, was quick to capitalise on the precedent set by Johari. On Tuesday, it announced the entry of a Malacca state elected representative from ruling coalition partner Umno into their fold.

“PAS was obviously testing the limits of the anti-hopping laws and it was also a response to the speaker’s decision. So this is PAS’ way to ensure discussion on the decision goes on,” political analyst Adib Zalkapli told This Week in Asia.

PAS, which is the single largest party in parliament, said on Tuesday that it was the right time to announce the entry of Muhamad Jailani Khamis, a state assemblyman from Malacca’s Rembia constituency, into the party.

Takiyuddin Hassan, the party’s secretary general, said Jailani had already joined PAS in June last year, well before the Malacca state assembly passed amendments to the state constitution that enacted anti-party hopping provisions.

The move by Jailani, who was suspended for six years by Umno in September for allegedly sabotaging his party in an earlier by-election, means there are now three opposition members in the 28-seat Malacca state assembly.

While Jailani’s defection is unlikely to trigger the downfall of the Malacca state government, it could potentially pave the way for similar moves in the