Anti-hopping Bill is ready

PETALING JAYA: The Attorney General’s Chambers will print the draft Bill on the anti-hopping law as soon as the Cabinet approves the Bill during its meeting slated for July 13, says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Parliament and Law said he would like the draft Bill to be on the MPs’ tables on the first day of the Dewan Rakyat meeting scheduled on July 18.

He said there was no need to table the Bill for its first reading as this was done during the one-day special sitting on April 11.

“By way of convention, the Bill only needs to be laid on the tables of MPs during the Dewan Rakyat meeting.

“As far as I am concerned, I would like to lay the draft laws on the table in Dewan Rakyat on the first day of its meeting so that all Members of Parliament can go through it,” he said in an interview yesterday.

He said the draft law, based on recommendations by the Parliament’s Special Select Committee (PSSC), would be submitted to the Cabinet. It also includes a report by the committee.

“Once printed, there cannot be any more amendments to the Bill before it is tabled in the Dewan Rakyat,” he added.

Asked if Cabinet members might oppose the draft law based on political lines, Wan Junaidi said it was unlikely.

He said the PSSC comprised MPs representing several political parties.

“You have two from Umno and MPs from Bersatu, PAS and others such as GPS, and Warisan, including the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

“I don’t foresee any problems,” he said.

On June 8, the Cabinet approved the PSSC’s proposed draft law submitted by the AG.

However, the PSSC’s request for a special one-day sitting to table the proposed draft laws was rejected due to costs and availability of MPs for such a purpose.

In March this year, the government intended to table the anti-hopping law, but was met with resistance from both government and opposition MPs.

The dissatisfaction centred around the possibility of the law being too wide, which could be abused by political parties to silence dissent among its leaders.

On April 11, the government tabled the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2022 during a special one-day sitting in the Dewan Rakyat.

Although debated, no vote was taken by the House on the Bill which was instead referred to a PSSC for further scrutiny.

The PSSC, made up of MPs representing several political parties, agreed that party hopping would be dealt through constitutional amendments and not by way of separate laws.

The proposed anti-party hopping law would only apply to MPs who quit their parties they had contested under, to join other parties or become independents.

It will not cover MPs who are involuntarily expelled from parties.

It will also not cover coalition hopping such as that of the Sheraton Move in 2020.

The second meeting of the Dewan Rakyat will start from July 18 until Aug 4.

Anti-hopping laws were among the political reforms agreed under the memorandum of understanding (MOU) inked between the government and Pakatan Harapan last September.