Dewan Rakyat approves anti-hopping bill
NURUL HUDA HUSAIN MOHAMMAD KHAIRIL ASHRAF MOHD KHALID28 Jul 2022 05:20pm
Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.
The highly anticipated bill was passed after a two-day debate that saw 209 MPs agreeing to the bill while others were absent. There are 220 MPs in total.
Dewan Rakyat Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun announced the decision at 5.12pm.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had presented the bill at the Dewan Rakyat.
Law minister Datuk Seri Wan JunaidiTuanku Jaafar while wrapping the debate said the parliamentary select committee has decided that any MP that leaves the political party to another party, or the same or different coalition will have to vacant his seat.
"This is because the membership of an MP refers to membership in a political party, regardless of whether the political party is in the same coalition or not," he said.
However, he said, MPs expelled from their party will not lose seats.
Since GE14, 40 MPs have jumped ship causing political instability, causing the collapse of the elected Pakatan Harapan coalition in 2018. Since then Malaysia has had three prime ministers - Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and now Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
