KOTA KINABALU, Aug 5 — Parti Solidarity Tanah Airku (Star) president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said today he is keen for Sabah to table an anti-party hopping bill at the State Legislative Assembly following the passing of the law at the Dewan Rakyat recently.
The deputy chief minister said that Sabah had in the past passed this law to prevent party hopping and he had no problems supporting it again.
"I think it’s a good law, and it's been a long time coming.
"Sure, we will support it. We supported at the federal level so we will support it here,” he said when asked about the proposal for the state to take on the law.
The Dewan Rakyat recently passed the anti-party hopping Bill with the 209 MPs present giving their approval, which prompted Parti Bersatu Sabah president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili to propose that Sabah do the same at the state level within 60 days.
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) secretary-general Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun had since then said the state was open to the proposal but needed to sit down to discuss the matter first.
He was quoted saying that it is more of a matter of when and whether a special sitting should be called or whether it should be passed during the budget session in either November or December.
The state has a history of being rocked by crossovers from its elected representatives, causing instability.
In 1988, when Sabah was under PBS rule, the state government passed an anti-hopping law but the enactment could not be enforced after the Federal Court ruled that assemblymen had the right to freedom of association under Article 10 of the Constitution.
The enactment was repealed from the state constitution in 1995 when Barisan Nasional took over the state government.
