Cabinet ‘bigwigs’ believed to be stalling anti-hopping bill

 

The government has pledged to introduce legislation to ban party-hopping but some ministers are believed to be holding back the bill. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A few Cabinet “bigwigs” are believed to be hampering efforts to have an anti-hopping law in force before the next general election, according to political sources.

Some ministers have been pushing for the anti-hopping bill to be tabled and passed by Parliament later this month.

However, a handful of influential and senior politicians are against the move, so that they would be able to lure newly-elected MPs to their side, or jump ship to the winning side and continue in power, the sources said.

MPs from Bersatu and PAS could be trying to stall, while most MPs from Umno, Pakatan Harapan, GPS and GRS are in favour of the law, a source said.

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“Apparently a handful of very influential Cabinet ministers prefer the law to be put in place after GE15. They want it as an insurance to accept the frogs if they need the numbers to form the government or join winning parties.

“If the law is gazetted before GE15, then there is no chance for losers to be in power like now. Some of them could also see the end of their political careers if this happens,” said the source.

The source said this stems from their lack of confidence in being able to win convincingly in GE15, as the electorate is currently divided and at least five million new and young voters are on the rolls whose political leanings are hard to ascertain.

Another source said the new law has overwhelming support and can be passed easily with a two-thirds majority, even if Bersatu, PAS and a group of Umno MPs vote against it.

“But this will be a risky move as it will show a massive split in the government on a serious issue. The question is whether prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is willing to take the risk and side with the majority of Malaysians who want this law in place soon.

“Given his weak position, it will be a real dilemma for him,” the source added.

One source said those who favour early adoption of the law feel that the electorate is disillusioned by the party-hopping that caused the fall of several PH governments in 2020, and recent moves by elected representatives.

“There is definitely a fear that the voter turnout will be affected adversely if there is no anti-hopping law in place. Voters may feel that they will be wasting their time in going to cast their ballots.”

The source said the proposed new law could be the dawn of a cleaning-up of Malaysian politics, which is currently in a deplorable state. - FMT