Hajiji: Anti-hopping Bill to be presented at Sabah state assembly soon

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government will present an anti-hopping Bill to amend the state's constitution at a special sitting soon, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said that the state's Cabinet agreed to bring it to the Sabah assembly after the Dewan Rakyat approved the Constitutional amendment to curb elected representatives jumping parties.

Hajiji added that this is in line with the state government’s commitment to instill political stability in Sabah.

“We support this law and we will present it at the State Legislative Assembly soon via a special sitting, so that an anti party-hopping law can be implemented and we can all sleep soundly,” he said.

“No more surprises here and there. The past is enough, we want political stability,” he added when launching the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Jelajah programme at the Keningau district community hall on Sunday (Aug 28).

The GRS chairman said Sabah does not want to be left behind in enacting its own anti party-hopping law after the Bill was approved in Parliament.

On the event itself, Hajiji said that GRS welcomes any local parties wishing to join them as the coalition aims to unite local leaders and political entities to develop Sabah together.

This is the first jelajah or tour after GRS was officially launched in May, and was also attended by GRS component party leaders from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star Sabah), Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) and United Sabah National Organisation (Usno).

Present at the event were Star Sabah president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, USNO president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Yee Moh Chai and Sapp deputy president Japiril Suhaimin.

Also present were Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) president Datuk Peter Anthony, Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) president Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah deputy president Rina Jainal, as well as Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leaders.

The four parties have made applications to join GRS coalition before this, which are still being reviewed and pending decisions.

Meanwhile, Hajiji said that added that the management of Sabah's electricity and gas supply will be handed over from the federal government to the state by next year.

Hajiji said that the relevant agencies are conducting follow-up actions to prepare for all technical and legal aspects as this will involve regulatory processes at both parliament and the Sabah state assembly.