Some politicians toying with democracy, using anti-hopping laws as bargaining chips, says MP

SHAH ALAM - The delay in drafting anti-hopping laws and limiting the prime minister’s tenure to 10 years has been delayed as some politicians are using them as bargaining chips, said Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil.

Adding more to the matter, he said the politicians are toying with Malaysian democracy.

“The anti-hopping law, it has become like a proxy war. These people are fighting over something else, but they used the bills as their tool.

“To me, we should not propose democracy from such a position, Malaysian democracy should not be a bargaining chip for anyone because democracy belongs to the people.

"Why should they play with something that belongs to the people,” he told reporters at a forum organised by Bersih and Bar Council in Petaling Jaya

He further said the infighting among politicians is more complex than it seems.

“Pakatan Harapan (PH) have signed the MoU so there are things we have agreed on with the prime minister, what’s important now is for the prime minister to show the political will to execute them," he said.

Fahmi, who is also PKR information chief was one of the forum’s panel speakers on the need to limit the prime minister’s tenure to 10 years. Also present was DAP’s Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi.

On June 9, Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the prime minister has decided that there was no need for the government to hold a special one-day Parliament sitting to table the Constitution (Amendments) 2022 to table the anti-hopping laws.

Malaysia's proposed anti-hopping Bill will be tabled when Parliament begins its scheduled meeting this July 18.