KOTA KINABALU – An anti-hopping law must be enacted to stop turncoats from destabilising governments, said Parti Bersatu Sabah, in urging the public to take part in the ongoing anti-hopping law survey conducted by the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department, which will end on December 7.
Party secretary-general Datuk Joniston Bangkuai today said that as a “victim’ of party-hopping in 1994, PBS now hopes the proposal to enact a law to stop elected representatives from switching parties would come to pass.
“Public input is crucial to illustrate the people’s support for the proposed law. We need an effective law to stop lawmakers from switching parties, hence the need for support and inputs from all Malaysians,” he said in a statement here today.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (Parliament and Law) had last week announced that a survey spearheaded by the Legal Affairs Division would be conducted from November 23 to December 7.
Wan Junaidi also revealed that a draft bill had already been prepared but was still under embargo as there were still many policy matters which remained unanswered.
Bangkuai said PBS has been a strong advocate of the anti-hopping law, having tried to pass such a law when it was in power in 1988, but the law was declared null and void by the high court.
“As a victim of party-hopping in 1994, PBS appreciates and lauds the current government’s proposal to table an Anti-Party Hopping Bill in Parliament, which to us is a demonstration that it (the government) is receptive to the wishes of the people,” he said.
PBS swept to power in Sabah in 1985, successfully weathered a snap election in 1986 brought about by the defection of two of its assemblymen, and won the state elections in 1990 and 1994.
However, barely two months after the 1994 election, then-party president Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan saw the PBS state government collapse when three of its assemblymen switched parties.
Joniston said elected assemblymen and MPs are important in a parliamentary democracy because they are the representatives of the people. – The Vibes, December 1, 2021
