MINISTER in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar is confident that the Anti-Party Hopping Bill will be passed in the Dewan Rakyat, based on the feedback received.

He said the sessions held with many stakeholders including lawmakers, civil society groups and party leaders had received 7,000 responses for analysis.

“Overall and in principle, many agree with it. So the only question left is that as the constitution needs to be amended, it will require two-thirds of the vote or support in the Dewan Rakyat, which is 148 out of 220 MPs now.

“If we get 148 votes or more, then this law can be passed, and based on my expectations after looking at the views of many parties, I am confident (the bill can be approved),” he said prior to his appearance on the Ruang Bicara programme on Bernama TV last night.

Wan Junaidi was previously reported to have said that several proposed constitutional amendments would be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Monday, including the Anti-Party Hopping Bill and limiting the prime minister’s tenure to two terms.

This is in line with the recommendation of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who wants the bill to be expedited after the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Political Stability with Pakatan Harapan on September 13 last year.

Commenting further, Wan Junaidi said the Anti-Party Hopping Bill is not to hinder the democratic process among politicians, but rather to prevent harm to the country, especially from an economic point of view.

“Actually in democracy itself, anywhere, there must be parameters or scopes of its own. So to enliven democracy, there must be rules and laws, because sometimes, humans have the tendency of wanting to be totally free without any resistance,” he said. – Bernama, February 24, 2022.