KUALA LUMPUR: The anti-party hopping law will be enforced before the 15th General Election (GE15), says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Parliament and Law said, even though no date had been announced for enforcement of the law.
“It will happen before GE15.
“Just bear with me and I will appear before you (the media) soon and explain further then,” he told a press conference at Parliament’s media centre yesterday.
The Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara passed amendments to the Federal Constitution to prevent party hopping by MPs on July 28 and Aug 9 respectively.
Based on the government website, the law received assent from the King on Aug 31, and was gazetted on Sept 6.
However, no date of enforcement of the law has been fixed.
In a related development, Wan Junaidi said the Cabinet had approved further constitutional amendments to prevent senators from party hopping.
The Dewan Negara or the Senate comprises 70 senators, 26 who are appointed by the state legislative assemblies, and 44 by the King.
At present, the Senate has 63 senators, of which 29 were appointed by the King, and 24 by the state assemblies.
Wan Junaidi also said several major Bills were still on track to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat during the current meeting, provided Parliament was not dissolved.
Among these were amendments to abolish the mandatory death sentence, as well as plans to reform parliament and insolvency laws, including limiting the post of the prime minister to two terms.
However, he said further scrutiny was needed before the Cabinet could give its approval for the proposed amendments to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat for first reading.
