KUALA LUMPUR – DAP will amend its party constitution to strip the membership of any elected representative or senator who does not comply with the party leadership’s directives, national organising secretary Steven Sim said today.
This will be one of two amendments to be brought before a special congress on September 25, meant to fill gaps in the anti-hopping law that have been passed by Parliament.
Sim in a statement today said any DAP member who is an MP, assemblyman or appointed senator will cease to be a party member if they fail to comply with directives by the party’s central executive committee (CEC).
The second amendment is to allow the CEC to issue a specific directive to any MP, assemblyman or appointed senator.
As the anti-hopping law stands, an elected representative who quits his or her party and joins another will lose their seat, while a representative who is sacked will not have to vacate the seat.
Sim, who is also Bukit Mertajam MP, said amendments to the DAP constitution are needed to address this weakness in the law.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke explained last month that the loophole pertained to lawmakers who harbour the intention to party-hop and do not do so, but instead behave in other ways in order to get sacked, so as not to lose their seats.
“What is worrying is that if an MP has the intention to party hop or defect to other parties, they will not leave the party but do certain things that will result in the party sacking him.
“By doing so, they will not need to vacate his seat and there won’t be a by-election,” Loke had explained.
Sim today said the special congress would be held in Shah Alam, and be attended by 3,672 party delegates. Beruas MP Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham will preside as congress speaker. – The Vibes, September 14, 2022
