Amanah amends constitution on party-hopping

 

The motion to amend the Amanah constitution was passed with a majority vote at the party’s national convention.

SEREMBAN: Amanah has passed a motion to amend its constitution so that any MP, senator, or state assemblyman who goes against the party’s decisions would automatically lose their membership.

The motion was presented at the party’s national convention by Ahmad Zamri As’ad Khuzaimi, a delegate from the federal territories.

He said the purpose of the motion was to bring the party’s constitution in line with the constitutional amendment to prohibit party-hopping, which was passed in the Dewan Rakyat in July.

“Those (members who go against the party’s decisions) will also relinquish their party membership as stated in Article 49A(1)(a)(i) of the Federal Constitution, and will no longer be considered a party member as per Article 49A(1)(a)(ii),” Zamri added.

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Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, in explaining the motion, said the amendment was necessary so that elected representatives from the party who disobeyed the party’s instructions could be considered as giving up their membership or party-hopping.

The motion was then approved via a majority vote.

Amanah delegates also debated motions on the rising cost of goods, citizenship rights for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers, the Malay-Muslim political struggles, and coalitions.

Amanah’s fellow Pakatan Harapan component party, DAP was reported to be looking at tabling a similar motion to amend its constitution in a special congress slated to take place on Sept 25.

In August, DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said this was to safeguard the party from a “loophole” in the anti-hopping law, where MPs sacked by the party do not have to vacate their seats.

While noting that some might call DAP draconian for this, Loke said the amendment would only apply to fundamental matters, such as electing the prime minister or voting on the annual federal budget. - FMT