PN’s short-term gains, long-term pains from defections

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PETALING JAYA: With Dr Xavier Jayakumar being the latest MP to resign from his party to back the government, a political analyst believes that defections will provide Perikatan Nasional with only short-term stability.

Political observer Azmi Hassan, a former academic, said the few extra MPs would not benefit the coalition at the next general election as it now had to arrange for more seat allocations among its added representatives.

He expected this to “create turmoil” within PN’s component parties, as there could be clashes over certain seats.

“When (these MPs) won their seats during the last elections, it was not solely based on individual popularity but on the party they represented as well. So in the long term, it is in fact disadvatageous to PN,” Azmi told FMT.


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