Bersatu fully supports the plan to enact the Anti-Party Hopping Bill, said a supreme council member, but the party wants the law to be durable.
Razali Idris (above), who is also a Dewan Negara senator, told Malaysiakini that the party’s lawmakers also agreed to support the government’s plan to amend Article 10 of the Federal Constitution on Monday.
The amendment to be tabled is to create an “enabling clause” in Article 10 that will facilitate the bill to specifically prevent MPs from switching parties.
“We fully support the Anti-Party Hopping Bill, and (the party) has given the authority to our president, Muhyiddin Yassin, (to work) on how to improve the bill.
“This is so that it can be used in the long term and is not going to be changed easily. Meaning that, it would be a law that is complete and does not require any more amendments in the near future, (and that it can be used) for at least two more terms before any improvement is made,” Razali said.
According to him, among the things that needed to be done for the law to be “complete” is coming up with the definition of “party hopping”.
Malaysiakini contacted Razali to get his view on the issue, as recent media reports claimed that Bersatu lawmakers were responsible for the snag in the government's plan to table the anti-hopping bill this Monday.
A special Parliament session scheduled on Monday would see the tabling of only the constitutional amendment. The actual bill, however, is postponed.
A new date for the tabling of the anti-party hopping law will be decided by the prime minister, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday.
Denied claims
Razali, who is a Dewan Negara member refuted claims that Bersatu was against the bill, and said that he and others in the party were puzzled as to who among them are against the bill.
Asked about Bersatu’s position on this Monday’s constitutional amendment, Razali said the party has not issued any instruction on the matter but all party lawmakers are united in backing the proposal.
“There is no specific instruction, but we unanimously support it,” he said.
Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the government and the Pakatan Harapan opposition bloc last year, Putrajaya promised to implement a number of reforms.
Among them was the enactment of a law to prevent lawmakers from party hopping.
However, after having earlier delayed the tabling of the bill to April 11, it once again hit a snag when the cabinet reportedly decided to postpone it earlier this week.
While Wan Junaidi reportedly said that the anti-hopping bill has been sent back for further tweaking, especially on the definition of “party hopping”, there were news reports that claimed Bersatu was against the bill and had effectively blocked it. - Mkini
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