Anti Hopping Law Takiyuddin Tells Penang To Strip Defectors Seats First

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De facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan said the Penang state government should strip four of its assemblypersons of their seats in accordance with the state’s anti-hopping law if the opposition truly wanted an anti-hopping law at the federal level
"I suggest for Penang to fire those assemblypersons and let them bring this matter to court, " he challenged
Takiyuddin said this during his wrapping-up speech for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s address in the Dewan Rakyat today
"See if the court will support the decision of the court in the 1992 case of Dewan Undangan Negeri Kelantan v Nordin Salleh," he added
In the case he referred to, the court had concluded that an amendment to the Kelantan constitution, which prohibited party-hopping, was inconsistent with Article 10(1)(c) of the Federal Constitution which provides for freedom of association
Takiyuddin initially said three Penang state assemblypersons had defected from their parties recently, who were Bertam representative Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq, Teluk Bahang representative Zolkifly Md Lazim and Seberang Jaya representative Dr Afif Bahardin
Hence, he said the Penang government should compel those three to vacate their seats in accordance with the Penang Constitutional Enactment (Amendment) 2012, which refers to the state’s anti-hopping law
The law states that elected representatives have to vacate their seats if they switch parties or become independent assemblypersons during their tenure
However, Wong Hon Wai (Harapan-Bukit Bendera) interjected that there were actually four assemblypersons who had switched parties or allegiances recently and that the fourth was actually Sungai Acheh representative Zulkifli Ibrahim
Wong also said that action will be taken against the four assemblypersons at the next Penang state assembly in October
Takiyuddin (photo) welcomed Wong's statements and said he was looking forward to developments on the matter
The four assemblypersons had defected from the Pakatan Harapan government to support Perikatan Nasional (PN) over the past few months
Harapan had been urging for an anti-party-hopping law to be enacted at the federal level since they lost control of the government in late February due to a political coup
The coup, dubbed the “Sheraton Move”, was made possible by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin announcing his party's exit from Harapan as well as the defections of a number of MPs who were from PKR at that time, who were led by former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali
The fall of the Harapan government made space for the formation of the PN government, which consists of Bersatu, Umno-BN, PAS, and GPS. - Mkini

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