Zahid: Was anti-hopping bill sabotaged?

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has asked aloud if the delay in legislating laws to discourage MPs from defecting was due to sabotage.

"(The passage) of the 'anti-hopping' law will take a long time and is at risk of being delayed indefinitely. The delay suggests (that the government) was not serious and lacking in political will.

"Are saboteurs behind this delay?" asked Zahid on his Facebook page.

Umno has come up as a strong supporter of the so-called "anti-hopping" law, which Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob promised to legislate as part of his confidence-and-supply agreement with the Pakatan Harapan coalition signed last September.

Since 2018, both Umno and Harapan have been the victim of defections, losing 16 and 22 MPs respectively.

Initially, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who had worked on the bill for months, promised to table the new laws on March 21 was the Dewan Rakyat was in session.

However, the cabinet postponed the tabling of the bill to a special Dewan Rakyat sitting on April 11. Yesterday, the cabinet decided to change the bill altogether.

The plan now was to amend the Federal Constitution to remove hurdles for eventual anti-hopping legislation to be passed at a later date.

Zahid said this arrangement would definitely disappoint Malaysians who do not wish to see their votes wasted by lawmakers who defect.

"It is time for Umno (cabinet ministers) to be stricter in resolving this issue before it creates more unhappiness (amongst the public) who wish to see the anti-hopping law become reality," he said.

Zahid also urged the government to review Ismail Sabri's confidence-and-supply agreement with Harapan in view of the delay.

"This is a huge blow to Harapan who signed the agreement with the government because they are incapable of facing the next general election if Parliament is dissolved," he said. - Mkini