KUCHING, July 27: While it may not be able to cover all party hopping scenarios, the tabling of the Anti-Hopping Bill is a significant step in restoring the people’s confidence in Malaysia’s democracy.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said the law can still be reviewed and strengthened once passsed, thus the first step of tabling the Bill must be taken to ensure that the people’s mandate will not be betrayed again.
He said the main consideration for the Bill is to avoid another ‘Sheraton Move’ whereby a group of MPs changed party support and saw to the fall of the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in 2020.
“The Anti-Hopping Bill 2022 that was tabled in Parliament today is a significant step towards curbing the rampant and despicable act of ‘political frogs’ that have been plaguing our country especially since the infamous Sheraton Move.
“This was a result from the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) that was signed between the Prime Minister and PH MPs which one of our demands is for an ‘anti-hopping law’ to be tabled to restore the people’s faith in the democracy and electoral process,” he said.
On technicalities, Dr Yii said the Bill does not cover MPs that have been sacked by their party, and MPs from de-registered parties. — DayakDaily
