THE government has no objections to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee’s (PSSC) proposed draft of the anti-party hopping law, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) said the cabinet was briefed yesterday on the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution relating to anti-party hopping.

“Attorney-General Idrus Harun gave an explanation to the cabinet regarding the constitutional amendment and the cabinet had no objection to the draft proposed by the PSSC,” the Santubong lawmaker said in a statement today.

However, Wan Junaidi, who is also PSSC chairman, said the cabinet had raised two issues that needed to be further addressed by the committee but did not elaborate on them.

He noted that according Dewan Rakyat Standing Order 85, details of ongoing meetings in the special committee cannot be disclosed fully to the public as yet.

“Overall, the bill has been taken into account by the cabinet and the questions they have raised will be brought to the PSSC on June 7 to be scrutinised, before the proposed bill is finalised,” said Wan Junaidi.

Putrajaya hopes to table the bill at the coming parliament meeting next month.

This anti-party hopping bill, which was to be passed by March 24, is one of the main components in the Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Political Stability (MoU) inked by the government and Pakatan Harapan last September.

The bill is to prevent MPs from switching parties for personal gain, which contributes to political instability.

Since 2018, there have been 39 lawmakers who have switched sides, leading to two changes of federal government.

Wan Junaidi recently said a lawmaker was expelled by their party will not be affected by the proposed anti-party hopping law. – June 2, 2022.