KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 ― Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob should call the 15th general election only after all states have enacted the anti-party hopping law, Lim Guan Eng said today.
The DAP national chairman pointed out that there were several outstanding issues that need to be ironed out before the proposed Bill can be made law and properly curb elected lawmakers from switching their political allegiances and destabilising the government and economy
“It is incumbent for Ismail Sabri to give effect to the anti-hopping law nationally by withholding general elections until this historic piece of legislation permeates every legislative body and infuses a new reformist spirit in future wakil rakyat,” the Bagan MP said in a statement.
Lim said de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had said the Bill that requires an amendment to the Federal Constitution may only be gazetted next month at the earliest, after the Dewan Negara sits on August 9.
The Bill sailed through the Dewan Rakyat yesterday with 209 MPs voting in its favour and the remaining 11 MPs absent from the Lower House.
Lim added that Wan Junaidi has also said he is waiting for the Federal Court’s decision on a lawsuit concerning the constitutionality of Penang’s anti-party hopping law that was amended in 2012.
Lim said he had discussed the matter with Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who agreed that the three states under Pakatan Harapan ― Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan ― would amend their state constitutions to incorporate the anti-hopping law
“There should be no different set of laws between the respective states and the Federal Constitution to cleanse the country’s political framework from dishonest opportunists who are willing to sell off their principles and betray the people’s mandate in pursuit of wealth and political posts,” Lim said.
In the meantime, he suggested Ismail Sabri should direct the states governed by the ruling Barisan Nasional-Perikatan Nasional coalitions to amend their state constitutions in order to enact the anti-hopping law.
The Bill is the central institutional reform measure mooted by Pakatan Harapan coalition after its government collapse following a mass crossover of MPs in early 2020 known as the Sheraton Move.
Ismail Sabri who tabled the Bill in the Dewan Rakyat last Wednesday said MPs who leave the party they got elected into public office with, will automatically lose their seats if they change their political affiliation mid-term.
