Umno amends party’s constitution in regard to anti-hopping law

Any Umno MP or state assemblyperson joining a political pact that Umno is not a part of will automatically lose his or her membership, the party’s general assembly decided today.

The move, once it takes effect, can trigger the country's new anti-hopping law passed by the Dewan Rakyat last year aimed at discouraging MPs from switching parties.

The decision was made by delegates during a special sitting this afternoon, where they unanimously agreed to introduce an amendment to Article 20 of the party constitution which stipulates disciplinary matters.

Vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin confirmed the matter when contacted.

According to Khaled, a new sub-clause will be inserted under the Article, stating that any Umno member would lose his or her membership automatically if the member had become an MP or a state assemblyperson and then joins political cooperation which Umno is not a part of, or chooses to become an independent representative.

The same goes for any Umno member who contests in an election as an independent, or as a candidate for any political coalition that Umno is not a part of.

It was understood that the amendment was introduced to make the party constitution "in line" with the anti-hopping law that was passed in Parliament last July.

The Dewan Rakyat had passed the constitutional amendment bill aimed at discouraging MPs from switching parties.

The key feature of the bill is that it sought to introduce Article 49A, which stipulates that an MP will cease to be a member of the Dewan Rakyat on two conditions:

1. The MP "resigns" from or "ceases to be a member of" the political party that he or she was a member of upon being elected, or

2. The MP, having been elected while being a member of a political party, joins a different political party.

The new law will also apply to MPs who were without a party membership upon being elected but subsequently joined a political party.

Meanwhile, during the same special session, Umno delegates also passed another motion to amend the Umno constitution to automatically include party division information chiefs as delegates to its future general assemblies. - Mkini