Cabinet to refine two issues in anti-hopping bill, says minister

PUTRAJAYA - Two issues on a bill prohibiting MPs from switching parties were raised by the Cabinet during a Cabinet meeting yesterday.

De facto law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun had given an explanation to the Cabinet over the constitutional amendment and there was no objection to the draft proposed by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee.

"However, the Cabinet wants two issues to be detailed and refined by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee,” he said in a statement today, without disclosing the details of the matters raised.

Wan Junaidi said according to the Dewan Rakyat Standing Order 85, information regarding the Select Committee cannot be disclosed to the public as it is still under discussion at the Parliamentary Special Select Committee level.

Overall, the Cabinet has taken note of the bill, Wan Junaidi said adding that the questions raised will be brought to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on June 7 to be scrutinised before the bill is finalised.

It was previously reported that the bill is expected to be tabled as early as mid-July, when the Second Meeting of the Fifth Session of the 14th Parliament begins on July 18.