KUALA LUMPUR – Bersatu’s previous rejection of certain proposals for the anti-party hopping law has come back to bite them, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim implied while defending the Dewan Rakyat speaker’s decision not to vacate the seats held by six lawmakers sacked from the party.
Anwar pointed out that when the bill for the law was being drafted, Bersatu had opposed calls for the law to include a stipulation on an automatic forfeiture of seats for terminated party members.
“At that time, when we were in the opposition bloc, we wanted to include (in the law) that those who are fired from their party automatically lose (their seat), (but) this was opposed by Bersatu, which is why exceptions were included,” the prime minister said.
He also said the Federal Constitution must be read in its entirety instead of selectively, as supposedly done by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) component party’s leadership.
“The constitution must be read in full. I don’t know why he (Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) chose to only read parts of it… maybe that’s the way Bersatu does its political work,” Anwar told reporters when met at Global Madani Forum 2024 today.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin, who is also PN chairman, accused Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul of “tarnishing” the constitution by not vacating the seats held by six opposition MPs who had declared support for the government.
Muhyiddin also said the party’s appointed legal experts would take the appropriate action to uphold the law and the party’s constitution by challenging Johari’s decision in court.
The six MPs involved are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul (Bukit Gantang), Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tg Karang).
The anti-party hopping law, enshrined under Article 49A of the Federal Constitution, states that an MP’s seat will be vacated if the lawmaker in question resigns from their party, ceases to be a member of the party, or joins another political party.
However, the law that came into effect in October 2022 does not address instances where an opposition MP switches support to the government without leaving their party.
Previously, PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the disagreement voiced by PN leaders towards proposals for automatic forfeiture of parliamentary seats following party membership termination led to current loopholes in the anti-party hopping law.
Saifuddin, who was part of the technical committee tasked with drafting the anti-party hopping bill, said Pakatan Harapan had wanted the law to penalise MPs who went against party decisions in the Dewan Rakyat on matters such as motions of confidence or any bill impacting the government’s standing.
PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin and his PAS counterpart Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan had, however, objected to this, leading to the bill only reflecting what all in the committee were able to agree on. – July 11, 2024