Advance anti-hopping bill to leave legacy, Leiking tells Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR – The government has been urged to expedite the tabling of the anti-party hopping bill in Parliament as calls for snap polls get louder, especially from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s own party, Umno.

Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking has warned that all efforts to introduce the bill will be futile if the general election is held before it is passed in both parliamentary houses and gazetted.

Leiking, who is a member of the parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) on the anti-hopping law, said hastening the tabling and passing of the bill will allow Ismail Sabri to leave behind some sort of legacy in a tenure fraught with many lows.

There is a lot of talk about the general election. If the prime minister doesn’t set a date for the tabling of the bill immediately and an election is called, the government would have failed in honouring its promise,” he told The Vibes.

The Penampang MP was referring to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between the government and Pakatan Harapan (PH) that includes the passing of the bill as one of the conditions for support for the prime minister.

However, the document states that this must be accomplished by the first meeting of the fifth session of the current parliamentary term, which was between February and March this year.

Leiking said that after failing to deliver on the promise of outlawing party defections based on the timeline provided under the MoU, he would have thought Ismail Sabri and PH would have reached a compromise for the bill to be tabled by June at the latest.

This is particularly pertinent, as under the MoU, the government is allowed to dissolve Parliament after July 31.

“It’s no longer a question of soon. You have to do it now, prime minister. You know very well your party is forcing you to call for an election. So, do something that will leave a mark, at least in terms of your legacy.

The economy is tanking, inflation is soaring, among other things. At the least, this (passing of anti-hopping law) is something you can do. If you are honest, then set a date. If you can’t, it shows something is wrong.”

Bill not perfect, but good first step

The anti-hopping bill has already been postponed several times. It was originally supposed to be tabled in the second week of March, but this did not materialise. 

On March 18, law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said it was delayed, as the government needed feedback from the Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional coalitions. 

The bill was eventually tabled in a special parliamentary sitting on April 11, but was never voted on, as the document was pushed to the PSSC for deliberation. 

Leiking said the PSSC will meet on Tuesday to fine tune a couple of items as requested by the cabinet, in what is expected to be the final draft bill.

For the Warisan lawmaker, while the bill at its current state may not be perfect, ensuring its tabling is a good first step.

“At least just table it and let the other MPs debate over it. If there is anything that the PSSC has missed out on or if further improvements are required, then the Attorney-General’s Chambers or the government can go over it.

“But not attempting to table it in Parliament at all just speaks volumes.”

Considering the growing public frustration and loss of confidence in the parliamentary system after several cases of party-hopping, he said it is vital that there be no more delays in passing the legislation.

“Warisan had been victims ourselves, and I have to admit, we have also accepted people from other parties. Whatever it is, people are crossing the political aisle.

With the law in place, at least voters will have an ease of mind that the person they voted for will stay for the next five years, and betraying that mandate will mean they will lose their seats.

“Simply put, everyone wants this law.”

The latest high-profile party-hopper is Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, who was first a PKR member, then joined Bersatu and in May, left for fledgling Parti Bangsa Malaysia. – The Vibes, June 6, 2022