KUALA LUMPUR – The Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on the Anti-Hopping Law (AHL) has wrapped up its final meeting and is tipped to be debated in Parliament soon, said Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
In a posting on Twitter, Azalina, who is a member of the PSSC, shared several photographs of the final meeting which also saw the presence of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today.
“I am happy to share that the PSSC for the Anti Hopping Law concluded today & we will submit the bill to the House to be tabled,” the former deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker and Pengerang MP said.
“(It’s) Another step closer to abolish Frogs Colony & towards dignified politics in Malaysia.”
I am happy to share that the PSSC for the Anti Hopping Law concluded today & we will submit the bill to the House to be tabled.
— Azalina Othman Said (@AzalinaOthmanS) July 12, 2022
Another step closer to abolish Frogs Colony & towards dignified politics in Malaysia.#AHL#PoliticalReset#SayNo2FrogsColony pic.twitter.com/VzDO2l8XcN
Yesterday, Wan Junaidi said the bill did not require cabinet approval as it was now the responsibility of Parliament.
On Saturday, Wan Junaidi said the AHL bill will be tabled in Parliament on July 18,
He expressed his confidence in the tabling going ahead without a hitch, adding that there should be no other matters standing in the way of the law.
The bill was tabled in Parliament on April 11, but the Dewan Rakyat agreed to refer it to the PSSC for further deliberation before it is put up for vote.
The government had initially planned to pass the law then but was forced to postpone it after resistance from certain quarters in the federal cabinet, who disagreed with the current definition of party-hopping.
Wan Junaidi himself is the chairman of the PSSC which comprises ten other members.
It was tasked with scrutinising constitutional amendments and definitions needed to introduce any anti-hopping legislation.
He earlier said that the PSSC would also establish if Article 48(6) of the federal constitution, which prohibits any defecting lawmaker from competing in an election for five years, should be abolished.
Government-friendly MPs in the committee include Azalina (Pengerang) and Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (Padang Rengas), both from Umno; Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (Larut) from Bersatu; Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (Kota Baru) of PAS; and Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Sibuti) of Gabungan Parti Sarawak.
Representatives from the opposition include DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong), PKR’s Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (Kulim-Bandar Baharu), Amanah’s Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (Sepang), Upko president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau (Tuaran), and Warisan’s deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking (Penampang). – The Vibes, July 12, 2022
