[UPDATED] Anti-hopping bill finalised, special sitting mooted for first week of July

KUALA LUMPUR – The Parliament Special Select Committee (PSSC) deliberating on the anti-hopping law was finally able to finalise the draft bill that would outlaw party defections, said de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. 

This comes close to two months after the committee was established to scrutinise the proposed law, which would also see an amendment made to the Federal Constitution.  

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said the PSSC has also unanimously agreed to suggest to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that a special Parliament sitting be held in the first week of July for the tabling of the bill, in line with Standing Order 11(3) of the Dewan Rakyat.

“Generally, the PSSC has succeeded in accomplishing all its terms of reference as decided on April 11,” he said in a statement today.

“This success is down to the joint commitment of all committee members, and with the support of Parliament, the Legal Affairs Department, Prime Minister’s Department and Attorney-General’s Chambers."

According to Wan Junaidi, the draft bill was finalised during the PSSC’s meeting yesterday, after deliberating on and ironing out all issues that were raised by the cabinet on June 1.

“The committee’s feedback on this matter will be reverted to the cabinet in its coming meeting, via a cabinet notice,” he said, adding that the PSSC will meet for one final time in the near future before the bill is tabled in Parliament.

Previously on June 2, Wan Junaidi had said that the cabinet had agreed in principle to the original draft bill, but wanted further refinement to two issues.

A special Dewan Rakyat sitting was originally held on April 11 to vote on a constitutional amendment to Article 10 to include an enabling clause to allow for the enactment of specific anti-hopping legislation in the future, but the matter was then pushed to the PSSC for further deliberation.

This was after several lawmakers had called for further finetune to the proposed law.

The introduction of the anti-hopping law, which was initially supposed to be tabled during the March parliamentary sitting, has already been postponed several times previously. 

On Wednesday, Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking, who is a member of the PSSC on the anti-hopping law, urged the government to expedite the tabling of the bill as pressure mounts on Ismail Sabri from his own party Umno to call for an early general election.  – The Vibes, June 8, 2022