Bersatu Drafters Took Anti Hopping Law Lightly Didn T Foresee Loopholes Razali

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Bersatu representatives had taken the anti-hopping law lightly when drafting the bill last year, claimed party information chief Razali Idris.
Pointing out that the law was the first of its kind in the country, he said the Bersatu representatives who worked on the draft bill did not foresee “loopholes” when rejecting a clause that required MPs to vacate their seats if they went against the party whip and principles.
“Maybe at that time, they (Bersatu representatives) didn’t think any MPs would ‘hop’, but it’s becoming more prevalent. They are clever in finding loopholes.
“But it’s in the past now, we should move on,” Razali (above) told Malaysiakini today.
Yesterday, former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin revealed that Bersatu was adamant in rejecting the aforementioned clause in the original draft of the anti-hopping bill which has led the party to its predicament today.
Khairy divulged that the reason for the Bersatu MPs’ rejection was to “prevent too much power given to parties”.
This came after four Bersatu MPs shifted their support to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim but maintained that they were still loyal to the opposition party.
PM Anwar IbrahimThey are Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang) and Zahari Kechik (Jeli).
Such action was not covered by the anti-hopping law, which only stipulates the action of sitting MPs or assemblypersons quitting their party to join another.
PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail also echoed Khairy’s sentiments, saying Perikatan Nasional representatives had blocked Pakatan Harapan’s attempts to introduce stringent laws that would force MPs to vacate their seats should they go against the party whip.
Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who was the law minister in charge of the bill at the time, told Sinar Harian that his original bill in 2021 addressed the loopholes that were recently used by the Bersatu quartet to go against PN and back Anwar.
Ex-minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku JaafarHe said four ministers during the Ismail Sabri Yaakob administration objected to the clause that stated if an MP changed their support in the Dewan Rakyat to the opposing bloc, the anti-hopping law would be triggered.
Non-partisan speaker needed
Razali reiterated Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s calls for the anti-hopping law to be reviewed as it has flaws and is not “workable”.
Razali asserted that the anti-hopping law needs a non-partisan Dewan Rakyat speaker for it to work effectively.
Therefore, he proposed for speaker Johari Abdul to be replaced with an individual who is not a “party man”.
Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul
“What is happening now is that the speaker is a former PKR leader. His son (Mohammed Taufiq Johari) is also an MP. Of course, he would side with the prime minister’s government.“The speaker needs to be someone who is not a party member, must be independent like the former speaker (Azhar Azizan Harun) during Muhyiddin’s tenure as prime minister.
“Because everything depends on the speaker, it’s all the speaker’s decision. If you want to do anything, you have to file a motion to the speaker. And if the speaker rejects it, that’s the end of it,” Razali said.
On Bersatu's next move towards the four MPs who declared support for Anwar, he said the party is exploring legal means.
“It’d be a waste of time to file a motion to the speaker to debate this matter, he can just reject it. So we are thinking of a legal perspective that is outside of the Dewan Rakyat.”
- Mkini

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