Shafie speaking to the media at the Warisan headquarters in Kota Kinabalu on Monday (May 22).
KOTA KINABALU: There is no requirement to obtain a royal assent in order to table the anti-party hopping Bill in the Sabah state legislative assembly, says state Opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
The Parti Warisan president said the law should only be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Head of State (TYT) for their consent once the state assembly voted in favour of the Bill.
"I’ve never heard of any tabling of a Bill that needed to be referred (to the King or Sabah Governor) first to enable it to be tabled.
"It is only after (the state assembly voted in favour of the Bill) that it is needed.
"What is the need for the debate or to vote if it is already endorsed by the King or TYT?
"(If that is the case) then you don’t have to debate the Bill, just gazette it ... we must understand the process of law," Shafie told reporters at the Warisan headquarters here on Monday (May 22).
The Senallang assemblyman was commenting on the remarks by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor who said the Sabah government did not purposely delay the tabling of the anti-party hopping Bill.
Hajiji said contrary to what the Opposition was saying, the state government was actually making sure that all procedures were complied with before they could bring the Bill for tabling.
"The anti-hopping law involves amending the state constitution and this requires approval from the Head of State and King before it can be tabled in the state legislative assembly," he said in his opening remarks at the pre-council meeting on Sunday (May 21).
"So, it is not true that we are purposely delaying it. We have to comply with procedures," he added.
He said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-led state government would table the anti-hop law during the four-day state assembly sitting beginning on Monday (May 22).
Nonetheless, Shafie, who was also the Semporna MP said Warisan welcomed the decision to table the Bill in this week’s sitting, adding they would scrutinise it to see if what the Bill contained could really bring political stability in the state.
"We will look at it in detail and debate the Bill as the two-thirds majority is needed to approve the law because it involves amendment to the state constitution.
"But I want to put right that it is not that we, the opposition, meaning Warisan, are desperate or do not want this Bill to be tabled.
"We did not even know it would be tabled, even the State Assembly Speaker previously said (the Bill) was not the sitting agenda.
"But we know the state government has the power to table the motion in a short space of time so, we will accept it and I’ve also seen a copy of the Bill but I can’t comment on it yet because it is still under embargo," Shafie said.
Last Tuesday (May 16), State Assembly Speaker Datuk Kadzim Yahya had informed the media he had yet to receive the Bill from the state government.
He said he was informed by the Sabah government that they were planning to table the Bill but could not confirm if it would be tabled in the May 22-25 sitting.
Shafie had submitted a Private Member’s bill to push for the anti-party hopping Bill at this session.
Kadzim had explained that since the government was going ahead with the anti-party hopping Bill, he did not see Shafie’s Private Member’s Bill necessary.
Pressure had been building on the GRS government led by Hajiji to table the Bill in line with the Federal anti-party hopping law which came into effect last Oct 5.
