Table anti-hopping Bill at next Johor assembly sitting, Pakatan reps urge Johor govt

JOHOR BARU: Several Pakatan Harapan assemblymen have called upon the Johor government to enact an anti-hopping law which can be tabled at the next state assembly meeting in March.

In a joint statement, Chew Chong Sin (Mengkibol), Andrew Chen Kah Eng (Stulang), Tee Boon Tsong (Senai) and Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub (Simpang Jeram) noted that the assembly unanimously passed an amendment to the Undang-Undang Tubuh Kerajaan Johor 1895 to lower the age of state election candidates from 21 to 18 years old.

“The state government should enact the anti-party hopping (law) as soon as possible since both government and Opposition assemblymen have agreed to support it, similar to the amendment made to lower the age of candidates.

“The Federal Government and Pakatan signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Sept 13 last year, which involved six aspects including... the Anti-Hopping Act,” they said in the statement on Thursday (Jan 6).

They said that under Article 10 (1) (c) of the Federal Constitution, all citizens have the right to form associations.

However, they said that Article 10 (2) (c) provides that Parliament may by law impose on that right any restrictions it deems necessary or expedient to the interests of security, the federation or any part thereof, as well as public order or moral principles.

The statement added that therefore, the enactment of an anti-hopping law should be implemented for this purpose.

“Since the Federal Government and Opposition have agreed to enact such a law it has yet to be tabled and approved officially.

"The Johor government can start work drafting the Bill so that it can be tabled and approved... in March.

“It can take effect before the assembly is dissolved and state elections are held,” the statement said.

It also added that the recent Melaka elections proved the people's desire for the enactment of such a law.

“We urge Parliament to give priority to the tabling and approval of the Anti-Party Hopping Act in order to remove obstacles to the amendment of the law by state governments.

“We believe that such an enactment can restore the people's confidence in the democratic system and guarantee the country's political stability. This is also very important to revive our country's economy,” the statement added.