WITH the Dewan Rakyat session ending in two days, a UMNO veteran urged the Government to explain on why the anti-party hopping law was yet to be tabled at the august house.
“I thought the Government promised to table the Bill this month. If we don’t fulfil our promises, all kinds of speculations and rumours will arise,” Tan Sri Shahrir Samad said, in a Facebook post.
Anti-hopping law was among the few points the Government had agreed on implementing when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in August last year.
So far, the Bill has yet to be tabled as scheduled, which is this month. Both Anwar and DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng have warned that Pakatan Harapan would consider the MoU null and void if it was not tabled in this session.
On Feb 15, Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had indicated that the anti-hopping law may not happen this month as the Government was still engaging stakeholders on the matter.
“While it is imperative to have an anti-hopping law to ensure confidence and good governance, there is no consensus on the term “anti-hopping”.
“Is it simply hopping from one party to another or from one coalition to another? How about unregistered and independent members who were expelled from parties? Is that considered party-hopping?” Free Malaysia Today reported him as asking.
Are “frog” ministers the problem?
On that note, Shahrir queried whether the anti-hopping law was being resisted by Cabinet members who had “hopped” to join UMNO’s splinter party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
“Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, Abdul Latif Ahmad, Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamed, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin were ‘frogs’ who are now in Bersatu.
“Perhaps, they are not keen on the Bill as it would be detrimental to them. Plus, PAS is allied with Bersatu, surely they are not going to antagonise their partner,” he alleged. – March 22, 2022
