JOHOR BARU: Johor has never ignored the importance of an anti-party hopping law, says Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
He added that the state government would continue to follow the proper process and legal channels to ensure that the practice of democracy was guaranteed in Johor.
"The closer we get to the 15th General Election (GE15), the more slander, accusations and fraudulent claims are made by the Opposition to fuel the people's hatred towards the government," he said in a Facebook post on Friday (Sept 23).
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Onn Hafiz cited a tweet by DAP's Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi as another example of the Opposition's efforts to stir up the people over the anti-party hopping law.
He said either the Opposition in Johor did not know about the country's legal process, or pretended not to know.
He also posted an infographic showing what stage of the process the law is at the moment.
He said when the legislation is tabled and accepted at state level, Johor will amend its constitution to align with the prohibition on elected representatives switching parties.
ALSO READ: 'Waste of time discussing anti-hopping law now'
Wong had tweeted a timeline showing that in 1978, Lim Kit Siang had tabled a motion in Parliament to have such a law but it was rejected by Barisan Nasional.
Her tweet also claimed that in July this year, Umno and Barisan Nasional, with only 41 seats out of Parliament's 222, agreed to the anti-party hopping law; but in September, Umno and Barisan – with 40 out of 56 Johor state assembly seats – rejected the enactment.
"Conclusion: the (fewer) seats held by Barisan and Umno, the better our nation's democracy grows," she said in her tweet.
On Thursday (Sept 22), Skudai assemblyman Marina Ibrahim raised a motion to form a special committee on the anti-party hopping enactment at state level.
Thirteen Opposition representatives supported it, with 37 assemblymen from Barisan voting against it.
