Wan Junaidi: No objection to anti-hopping law but Cabinet wants tweaks from parliamentary committee

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — The Cabinet has no objections to the proposed draft of the anti-hopping Bill by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC), Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said today.

In a statement, Wan Junaidi said the Cabinet reached the agreement following a meeting on the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution related to the anti-hopping Bill on June 1.

“Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun had given an explanation to the Cabinet regarding the constitutional amendment and the Cabinet had no objections to the draft proposed by the PSSC.

“However, the Cabinet raised two issues which still required further refinement by the PSC,” Wan Junaidi said.

Wan Junaidi further stressed that full details on the ongoing meetings in the PSSC cannot be disclosed to the public yet as the matter is still under discussion at the PSSC level, in accordance with the Dewan Rakyat Standing Order 85.

“Overall, the Bill has been taken into account by the Cabinet and the questions raised will be brought to the PSSC’s attention on June 7 to be scrutinised before the proposed Bill is finalised,” he added.

The proposed anti-party hopping Bill is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat next month.

The long-debated Bill was originally scheduled to be tabled on April 11 but it was postponed due to disagreements among MPs over its framework.

This anti-hopping Bill is one of the main components in the Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Political Stability (MoU) inked by the government and Pakatan Harapan (PH).

The purpose of this Bill is to prevent MPs from switching parties for their own personal gain, which in turn would lead to political instability.