THE Government should not delay from tabling the anti-party hopping laws which is scheduled to take place in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting, said the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO).
“It should not be delayed as the people want concrete measures put in place to ensure no lawmakers defect from their parties again.
“This will also defend the sanctity of the august houses and protect the lawmaker’s own integrity among the people,” its president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said in a statement.
Yesterday, Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the Government would amend Article 48(6) of the Federal Constitution, which bars an elected representative who resigns from their seat from contesting in an election for five years.
“We are looking into Article 48(6) of the Federal Constitution. We have decided that in the (proposed) anti-hopping law, a lawmaker who is removed as a MP after quitting a party can contest in a by-election.
“This is to determine if the incumbent lawmaker was given electoral mandate due to his or her own personality or because of the party,” Malaysiakini reported him as saying.
Lauding Wan Junaidi’s assurance, Madius said the minister’s statement had allayed the fears of some quarters who were worried that the Bill would not be tabled in the coming session, which may render the memorandum of understanding signed between the Government and Opposition toothless.
He added that if there were still concerns over the Bill, there was still ample for lawmakers to fine tune the matter.
“What is important now is for the Bill to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat session scheduled between February and March.
“With that, I also hope that the state governments would take the necessary steps to follow up on the matter, which includs amending their respective state constitutions to streamline it,” Madius concluded. – Feb 19, 2022
