KUALA LUMPUR – Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) main focus currently is to get the anti-party hopping bill passed in Parliament, said DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke.
He said the question of whether the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the federal government and PH, which ends July 31, would be extended or not was secondary.
“Not yet. We have not met yet (with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob). Our focus now is on deciding on the anti-party hopping act.
“I understand it (the effort) is progressing well. The select committee has held a series of meetings and we hope a date for a special session can be set after Raya,” he said when met after a breaking of fast ceremony here today.
When asked about the MoU between the federal government and PH recently, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said that the Supreme Council had decided that it would not be continued after July 31.
The MoU was signed last September by Ismail Sabri and party leaders from the PH coalition, agreeing that Parliament would not be dissolved before July 31 this year.
On April 20, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that he was optimistic the select committee on amendments to the federal constitution regarding the ban on MPs switching parties could prepare a report on the proposed bill within a month.
The PH presidential council said in a statement on April 11 that they wanted the constitutional amendment and the anti-party hopping bill as agreed upon by them and the government to be tabled and approved in a special sitting of Parliament before the end of May.
Meanwhile, Loke said as far as he knew, there were no formal talks between PH and Bersatu, and stressed that any new decision must be decided by the PH presidential council first.
“We don't feel they (Bersatu) have room to negotiate (with PH). That’s clear, I've stated that stance many times. I don’t even know what Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin means. It’s up to him,” he said.
Muhyiddin was reported on April 24 to have said, without naming any party, that Bersatu was ready to work with any political party to ensure that Barisan Nasional faced one-on-one contests in the 15th general election, and that it was in the early stages of negotiating a win-win formula among the various parties in order to achieve the goal. – Bernama, April 28, 2022
