A SPECIAL Parliament sitting for the tabling and debate of the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2022 will be held tomorrow.

The bill proposes enabling a clause under article 10 of the Federal Constitution to allow a new Act prohibiting MPs from switching parties.

However, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill on Anti-Party Hopping, which is scheduled to be tabled, debated and passed at the special meeting, has been postponed to another special sitting of Parliament to be determined later.

The postponement was agreed at a meeting of the Steering Committee on Transformation and Political Stability last Thursday, which was attended by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and the committee’s chairman Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Apart from Wan Junaidi and Saifuddin, other government and opposition bloc representatives who attended the meeting included Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa, Alor Gajah MP Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo.

The tabling and debate of the Anti-Party Hopping Bill was postponed for the second time after it was scheduled to be tabled for the first reading last March 24.

The bill could not be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat sitting last month to obtain the views and input of all parties involved.

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

This is in line with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s call for 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.

On April 2, Wan Junaidi revealed that a total of 39 MPs in the country had jumped parties since 2018 and that it had also led to political instability in Malaysia, with the country witnessing three prime ministers being appointed in a single parliamentary term.

Meanwhile, the Second Meeting of the Fifth Session of the 14th Parliament is scheduled to start from July 18 to August 4, while the third meeting is scheduled for 31 days from October 26 to December 15. – Bernama, April 10, 2022.