Lack of will preventing anti-hopping legislation, say lawyers

A two-thirds majority in Parliament is enough to make anti-hopping a law, says lawyer Bastian Pius Vendargon. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Two lawyers have dismissed law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s claim that a lack of consensus on the definition of “anti-hopping” makes it difficult to draft a law against it.

They allege that a lack of political will was to blame for any delay in tabling an anti-hopping bill in Parliament.

One of the lawyers, Bastian Pius Vendargon, told FMT defining “anti-hopping” would be easy if there was the political will to legislate it.

“If all who say they support an anti-hopping bill back it in Parliament, a two-thirds majority is enough for a constitutional amendment to be made,” he said. “However, one wonders if there is the will to achieve the legislation needed.”

Bastian Pius Vendargon.

Vendargon said a by-election should be held for a seat in the event of the resignation of the MP or assemblyman occupying it or his sacking from his party because he should be deemed to have vacated it.

This should be the basis for defining “anti-hopping”, he said.

In a press interview on Tuesday, Wan Junaidi said there was a lack of consensus on the definition of “anti-hopping” and this made it difficult to draft a law against it.

Andrew Khoo, co-chair of the Bar Council’s Constitutional Law Committee, agreed with Wan Junaidi that there were various interpretations of what constituted party hopping, but he alleged that the benefits of switching alliances was preventing the tabling of a bill against party-hopping.

“Many in the government, both at state and federal level, have benefited from party hopping,” he said. “Trying to make it unlawful or illegal would be akin to killing the goose that lays the golden egg.”

Andrew Khoo.

He said the constitution could be amended but it all came down to political will.

“If there is consensus on all sides of the political divide, then a constitutional amendment can be put through Parliament and passed.

“It comes down to whether those in the government and opposition are willing to stand up and say that a law should be enacted to prohibit the practice of changing parties even though they may benefit from it,” he said.

Khoo said it was important to pass an anti-hopping bill to hold elected representatives accountable to their constituents.

The government has said it would table an anti-hopping bill during the new session of the Dewan Rakyat starting on Feb 28.

Yesterday, DAP central committee member Ronnie Liu and PKR’s Subang MP Wong Chen questioned the validity of Wan Junaidi’s remarks about the difficulty of drafting an anti-hopping law.

Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh also alleged that the government was stalling on its promise.

Electoral reform group Bersih said enacting an anti-hopping law would restore public confidence in the electoral system and give voters a reason to come out in full force at the 15th general election. - FMT