KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Malaysia’s proposed new law against switching between political parties is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the February to March meeting, which is much earlier than the initial July timeline given.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today said the federal government and Opposition Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) joint steering committee on transformation and political stability had touched on the proposed anti-party hopping law in the committee’s meeting yesterday.

In a statement today, he said that among the important matters discussed was the need to speed up the tabling of the anti-party hopping Bill in line with the federal government’s commitment towards the memorandum of understanding (MoU) previously signed on September 13, 2021 by the government and PH.

He said the meeting had decided that the anti-party hopping Bill would be finalised and tabled in Parliament’s first meeting this year that is due to start on February 28.

Advertisement

Wan Junaidi also said that this is in line with the prime minister’s recommendation to expedite this Bill.

“To get the views from all quarters, a bipartisan Technical Committee will be set up under the Jawatankuasa Pemandu Transformasi Dan Kestabilan Politik (steering committee on transformation and political stability),” he said, adding that this technical committee will have four representatives from the federal government and four representatives from PH.

“This Technical Committee will meet next week to detail out policy matters and the proposed legal framework,” he said.

Advertisement

He said this agreement that was reached was also the commitment of both the federal government and PH to ensure that matters agreed in the government-PH MoU for transformation and political stability are carried out.

Previously, Wan Junaidi had said that the anti-party hopping Bill was expected to be brought to Parliament in the July session this year.

In the same statement today, Wan Junaidi had also said that the drafting of the anti-party hopping Bill or provisions required detailed studies and holistic engagement sessions in order for policies to be decided first.

Based on Malay Mail’s check of the expected schedule on Parliament’s website, the first meeting in the Dewan Rakyat this year will be held for 16 days from February 28 to March 24, with the first three weeks scheduled for debates and ministerial replies on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s speech on the first day and with the last week from March 21 to March 24 scheduled for Bills and other government matters.