In an attempt to clear the air over Perikatan Nasional's (PN) stand on the anti-hopping law, Gerakan president Dominic Lau said his coalition is not against the proposed legislation.
He explained that PN, which is part of the ruling government, is requesting for the law to be drafted in a more comprehensive manner.
“Don't misunderstand it as us opposing the act.
“No one is opposing. We all agree with the act for the sake of political stability and less corruption,” the senator told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar denied there were attempts to derail the act but conceded that disagreements existed.
Previously, the minister said there are three main criteria that define party-hopping by an MP.
These are an MP leaving the party he/she contested for to be an independent member or to join another political party; when an MP is expelled from his/her party and an independent MP who joins a party after an election.
However, Lau said the second and third criteria are incomprehensive.
Disagree with leadership
He said there could be instances where MPs disagreed with their party leadership or are sacked after revealing their leader or leaders' involvement in corruption.
Lau argued that it would be unfair to define this as switching parties.
“The act must clearly state under what circumstances an MP sacked by the party is considered party-hopping,” he added.
The Gerakan president is also concerned that the law would become an international joke and suggested changing its name.
“The Bahasa Malaysia name for the bill is 'Akta Lompat Parti', this means from one party to another.
“So when an independent MP joins a party, why is this considered party hopping? Perhaps, don't use 'lompat parti', use another term and it would be better,” he added.
More studies
The bill was supposed to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on April 11 but on Wednesday, Wan Junaidi said it had been sent back for more studies to be conducted on the definition of “party hopping”.
However, the special sitting slated for April 11 would proceed where a constitutional amendment to facilitate the future introduction of the bill would be introduced.
Quizzed on this, Lau appeared to be in the dark about the changes.
The senator said he was not informed of the changes and claimed that the matter would be “carried out as planned".
After a journalist showed him the news on the extension, he replied: "Based on what we received from Dewan Negara, (the act) is scheduled on April 12 (as planned), but I don't know what are the changes." - Mkini
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