KUALA LUMPUR: Perikatan Nasional (PN) will support the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 if it is tabled, says Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas).
The bill, better known as the generational endgame (GEG) bill, had been due to be tabled for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 10.
While health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said yesterday that the bill will be tabled before the current Dewan Rakyat meeting ends on Nov 30, Fadhli urged the government to table the bill as soon as possible.
“To what extent is the government serious about the bill? If they table it, the opposition will support it,” he said during a parliamentary debate.
“This (bill) goes beyond partisan political interests,” the PAS information chief said.
The bill seeks to ban the use, purchase and sale of cigarettes and vape products to those born after 2007.
The tobacco control bill was introduced in July last year by then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin but met resistance from several MPs. A revised bill was presented in June and subsequently referred to a parliamentary committee.
Previously, Zaliha said the bill would be tabled for a second reading in Parliament on Oct 10 after receiving the green light from the Cabinet to proceed with the proposed law.
However, she then said her ministry had launched a survey to gather public feedback on the bill via the MySejahtera app.
In the latest development on the bill, Attorney-General Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh said the provisions related to the bill can be challenged in court for conflicting with Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
Article 8 stipulates that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.
Terrirudin said the provisions would create unequal legal treatment between people born before Jan 1, 2007, and those born on or after that date. - FMT
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