October 3, 2022
KUALA LUMPUR – The anti-party hopping law will be enforced before the 15th General Election (GE15), says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Parliament and Law gave the assurance although no date of enforcement of the law has been announced.
“It will happen before GE15.
“Just bear with me and I will appear before you (the media) soon and explain further then,” he said during a press conference at Parliament’s media centre on Monday (Oct 3).
Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara passed amendments to the Federal Constitution to prevent party hopping by Members of Parliament (MPs) on July 28 and Aug 9 respectively.
Based on the government website, the law received the royal consent from the King on Aug 31 and was gazetted on Sept 6.
However, no date of enforcement of the law was fixed.
In a related development, Wan Junaidi said that the Cabinet has approved further constitutional amendments to prevent senators from party hopping.
The Dewan Negara comprises a total of 70 senators, 26 who are appointed by the state legislative assemblies, and 44 by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Currently, the Senate comprises a total of 63 senators, of whom 29 were appointed by the King, and 24 by the respective states assemblies.
Wan Junaidi also said that several major Bills are still on track to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat during the current meeting, provided Parliament was not dissolved.
Among those, he said were amendments to abolish the mandatory death sentence which is slated to be tabled during the present meeting.
He said there were also plans to reform Parliament and insolvency laws including limiting the post of prime minister to two terms.
However, he said that further scrutiny was needed before Cabinet can give its approval for the proposed amendments to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat for the first reading.
The Dewan Rakyat meeting began on Oct 3 and will be in session till Nov 29.