Party-hopping by lawmakers is among nine motions expected to be raised at the Bar Council’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) this Saturday.
The motion entitled 'Motion on party-hopping, removal of MPs and restoration of peoples’ rights in determining who their representative MPs and ADUNS are at all times' dated Sept 16 is proposed by human rights lawyer Charles Hector Fernandez.
When contacted, Bar Council committee members Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, New Sin Yew and Surendra Ananth confirmed this as among the issues to be raised at the upcoming EGM.
According to a copy of the list of agenda and motions for the EGM, the Bar is also set to discuss Fernandez’ other two motions, namely on protecting children’s rights and abolishing gender discrimination in Malaysian laws, as well as abolishing acquittal when the prosecution discontinues court (criminal case) proceedings mid-trial.
Among the other motions to be raised are on increasing the number of elected members in the Bar Council per Section 47(2)(c) of the Legal Profession Act, which is proposed by former Bar president Ambiga Sreenevasan and four other lawyers.
The EGM, to be held at 10am, would be conducted virtually from the Bar Council headquarters at Wisma Badan Peguam Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
According to a media invite issued today, the Bar will hold a press conference at 2pm after the EGM.
An anti-hopping law is one of the reforms the government has promised in a deal with Pakatan Harapan signed on Sept 13.
Recently, Pengerang MP and former deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker Azalina Othman Said renewed her long-standing call for an anti-hopping law, citing the example of voting against the party line in Parliament.
During a speech at the Dewan Rakyat two days ago, former prime minister and Langkawi MP Dr Mahathir Mohamad, while acknowledging the need to prevent parliamentarians from “party-hopping”, had cautioned that it is not as simple as outlawing “hopping”.
The Langkawi MP said that parties coming together as a coalition to form a simple majority government after an election should not fall under the ambit of any future anti-hopping law. - Mkini
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