INFO UNDIMalaysia election intelligence
Language
Menu
Appearance
Language

Knowledge workspace

How Malaysia works
Current topicThe anti-party-hopping law

Malaysia system map

Choose a concept to focus the workspace.
Civic guideHow Malaysia works
  1. 01
    FoundationsStart with the institutions and levels of government.
    System overviewHow Malaysia is governedFederal legislatureParliament, Dewan Rakyat and Dewan NegaraState legislatureWhat a state assembly does
  2. 02
    Representation and responsibilityWork out who represents you and which institution owns an issue.
    Representation guideMP vs ADUN: who represents what?Who is responsible?Federal, state and local responsibilityVacancy and by-electionWhat happens when a seat becomes vacant?
  3. 03
    Power and processRead majorities, government formation and law-making without political shorthand.
    Voting thresholdWhat a two-thirds majority meansConfidence and governmentHow a federal government is formedLegislative processHow a bill becomes law in MalaysiaConstitutional monarchyThe Yang di-Pertuan Agong
  4. 04
    Elections and the voteUnderstand who votes, how boundaries are set and what keeps a mandate with its party.
    Elections and the voteWho can vote and how voting worksElections and the voteHow electoral boundaries are drawnElections and the voteThe anti-party-hopping law
Reference deskMalaysian political and election glossary

Elections and the vote

The anti-party-hopping law

What Article 49A does, when an MP who changes party loses the seat, and the exceptions written into the 2022 amendment.

Direct answer

Since 5 October 2022, a Dewan Rakyat member who resigns from or ceases to be a member of the party they were elected under vacates the seat, under Article 49A of the Federal Constitution. Expulsion by the party does not trigger the rule, and most states apply equivalent provisions to their assemblies.

Worked example

Reading a mid-term by-election

When InfoUndi shows an election watch for a single seat outside a general election, Article 49A is one of the routes that seat may have become vacant: a member left or changed party and the seat returned to the electorate.

Sources: Attorney General's Chambers

Provision
Article 49A
In force
5 October 2022
Leaving your party
Seat vacated
Expelled by party
Seat kept

What triggers a vacancy

The amendment was adopted after repeated mid-term changes of government between 2020 and 2022 driven by members switching allegiance. A member elected under one party who resigns from it or joins another vacates the seat, and a member elected as an independent who later joins a party vacates the seat as well. The vacancy is then filled through the ordinary casual-vacancy process.

  • The rule applies to membership of the Dewan Rakyat and is triggered by the member's own change of party status.
  • An independent candidate who wins and later joins a political party vacates the seat.
  • A vacated seat follows the normal seat-vacancy rules explained in the seat vacancy guide.
  • The amendment was passed with cross-party support and a two-thirds majority.

Sources: Attorney General's Chambers; Parliament of Malaysia

What does not trigger it

Article 49A distinguishes a member's own decision from events outside the member's control. Being expelled by a party does not vacate the seat, and neither does the dissolution or deregistration of the party itself. A party moving between coalitions also does not change its members' seats, because coalition membership belongs to the party, not the individual member.

  • Expulsion from a party does not cost the member the seat.
  • Dissolution or cancellation of a party's registration does not vacate its members' seats.
  • Most state constitutions have adopted equivalent provisions for state assembly members.
  • The rule restarts at each election: it attaches to the party a candidate is elected under.

Sources: Attorney General's Chambers; Election Commission

Common questions

Does the anti-hopping law apply to state assembly members?

Article 49A itself covers the Dewan Rakyat, and most states have amended their own constitutions with equivalent provisions for ADUNs.

Does an expelled MP lose the seat?

No. Expulsion by the party does not vacate the seat; only the member's own resignation or change of party does.

What happens to a vacated seat?

It becomes a casual vacancy and follows the ordinary rules on filling a seat, explained in the seat vacancy guide.