THE special parliamentary sitting on Monday will see the introduction of a constitutional amendment that will allow laws against party hopping to be enforced in the country.

According to the proposed Constitution (Amendment)(No.3) Act 2022 bill, Putrajaya is seeking to amend Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and introduce the new Clause 3(A).

The proposed Clause 3(A) will allow the enactment of laws banning elected representatives in Parliament and the state assembly from switching allegiances.

Copies of the bill, which were sighted by The Malaysian Insight, were distributed to MPs yesterday.

The anti-hopping bill was initially scheduled to be tabled on March 24 but was postponed to the special parliamentary sitting on Monday. 

Yesterday however Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar announced that amendments to the constitution will be done first.

Wan Junaidi had also expressed his frustration at the cabinet for delaying the bill on which he had worked for eight months.

“Personally, I’m frustrated at the cabinet’s decision to postpone the tabling of the bill. I have been working on the bill for eight months. 

“However, as a cabinet member, I have to agree with the decision,” he said. 

Wan Junaidi said all the parties had agreed to a separate special parliamentary sitting to table, debate and approve the proposed anti-hopping bill. 

Earlier today the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council urged the minister responsible for tabling the constitutional amendment to state clearly in Parliament the gist of the bill to be tabled for approval in the second special meeting.

“PH believes that by passing the constitutional amendment and the bill, the people’s trust in the electoral process and parliamentary democracy will be able to begin to be restored. 

“However, the main condition is that the draft of the bill needs to be expedited, and this was emphasised by the MOU steering committee that met yesterday.” 

The PH also said it wanted the date of the second special meeting to be fixed and announced in Parliament on Monday.

Legislation to prevent party hopping as well as to set a term limit for the prime minister is among the terms of the opposition’s deal with the government in exchange for its support.

The agreement was signed on September 14 and focuses on six areas of reform. – April 8, 2022.