PH wants proposed constitutional amendment, party-hopping bill approved by end May 2022
KUALA LUMPUR: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council wants the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution and the Anti-Party Hopping Bill, agreed upon by them and the government, to be tabled and approved in a Special Meeting of Parliament before the end of May this year.
PH presidential council said the matter was among the results of discussions between the main leaders of PH with Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law), Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, in Parliament this morning.
The discussions involved the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution and the Anti-Party Hopping Bill, the council said in a statement today.
The statement was jointly issued by PKR president, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim; Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohd Sabu; DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke; and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
The PH presidential council said that the amendment to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, on the definitions of the restrictions for elected representatives to switch parties, also needs to be refined so that it will be limited to the Anti-Party Hopping Bill.
Article 48 (6) of the Federal Constitution, which states that an elected representative who resigns his membership of the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) is disqualified from contesting for five years, will also be scrutinised and resolved, in line with the spirit of the Anti-Party Hopping Bill.
The PH presidential council also said that the constitutional amendments tabled today will be referred to a parliamentary Select Committee which is bipartisan, involves all parties and is tasked with reviewing, refining and presenting the draft of the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution and the Anti-Party Hopping Bill to the Cabinet within one month.
The council also reiterated its stance that the Anti-Party Hopping Bill is one of the key conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Political Stability, signed by PH and the federal government last year.
“Pakatan Harapan is committed to the process to ensure that the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution and the Anti-Party Hopping Bill are successfully tabled and passed in Parliament, in order to restore the people’s confidence in the electoral process and ensure the future of democracy in Malaysia,” read the statement.
Earlier today in the Dewan Rakyat, Wan Junaidi said the government and PH had agreed on three points relating to the proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution, with the first to refine the definitions of the restrictions for elected representatives to switch parties, as stated in Article 10.
He said the matter was agreed upon at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister this morning. The meeting also agreed to the proposal to repeal Article 48 (6) of the Federal Constitution, as well as other amendments to the Federal Constitution which were deemed necessary. — Bernama
