PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s decision not to call a special parliamentary session to table the anti-party hopping bill is regrettable, Maria Chin Abdullah said today. 

The Petaling Jaya MP said Ismail’s action shows the government’s inability to prevent the violation of democracy and the people’s mandate due to acts of treachery and political corruption. 

“The government led by Ismail Sabri has failed and broken promises yet again, but this is not surprising given that it is the MPs in the government parties today who receive the gift of positions and power due to their zeal in coming and going in and out of the party at will,” she said in a statement today.

“When these government-appointed leaders lack a real mandate, the people can see for themselves the level of quality they possess. 

“They clearly lack direction and constantly cause problems for the people in almost every field, including the economy, education, society, health and law enforcement.”  

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said there would be no special parliament meeting to table the anti-party hopping bill and amendments to the Federal Constitution. 

He said Ismail had rejected the proposal, claiming it will incur additional costs to have MPs attend the meeting, which are estimated to be more than RM1 million. 

Maria said the period for the government to table the anti-party hopping bill expired on June 7 without a final outcome. 

She said the absence of such law only encourages more politicians to continue to party-hop, citing Parti Bangsa Malaysia’s newly minted president designate Zuraida Kamaruddin. 

“Most recently, Zuraida proceeded to hop to her new party while still remaining in Ismail Sabri’s cabinet as if nothing had occurred,” she said. 

Maria also took a swipe at Ismail over his trips abroad and disregarding the country’s political situation. 

“Ismail is seen as preferring to be abroad, such as in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and so on, and as a result, the country is now on ‘auto- pilot’, and various problems cannot be solved without involvement and decision,” she said. 

“I would like to emphasise that the July session of parliament should be extended to introduce a bill that is equally important, namely the political finance bill, IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission) bill and sexual harassment bill.” – June 10, 2022.