KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s anti-party hopping bill will be tabled on Thursday, the last day of the state assembly’s sitting, Speaker Datuk Kadzim M. Yahya said.
He assured there will be enough time to table the bill, in response to Sabah opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Senallang-Warisan) who asked in the assembly today if there would be sufficient time.
Shafie said the anti-hopping bill is a pressing matter, also pointing out that Kadzim himself had recently said a separate, special sitting might be needed for the bill as one day might not be enough for assemblymen to debate it.
Kadzim replied that “‘a day is insufficient” for those who want to debate it.
He added that three other bills will be tabled before the anti-hopping bill, namely minor amendments to the wakaf, land, and forestry bills, and would not take a long time.
Shafie had submitted a private member’s bill on the anti-party hopping law prior to the start of this sitting, but did not receive a response from the speaker.
Kadzim, however, said a response to Shafie had been given via an official letter, and that there was no need to debate his private member’s bill since the state government was going to table the same matter.
Shafie said he only learned that the anti-party hopping bill would be tabled during the current assembly sitting from media reports. –The Vibes, May 23, 2023
