Sarawak parties need not amend constitution as political situation stable

SHAH ALAM - There is no need for political parties in Sarawak to amend the constitution to prevent their members of Parliament (MPs) and assemblymen from shifting support to other parties.

National Council of Professors Senior Fellow Datuk Dr Jeniri Amir said he was confident that there were no MPs or assemblymen in the coalition of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) whether it was Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak (SUPP) and Parti Demokratik Progesif Sarawak will switch support in the near future.

Jeniri said even without the Sarawak State Constitution (Amendment) Bill (Amendment) (No. 2) 2022 passed by the State Legislative Assembly in May 2022, he believed that none of the GPS representatives would switch support.

"The political situation is stable and fulfills the wishes of the people under the leadership of Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

"This situation leaves no reason for the representatives of the people in Sarawak to switch support or jump parties.

"So in a GPS position that is so strong and has the solid support of the people, it is impossible for Sarawak assemblymen and MPs to hop parties or switch support because doing so will harm themselves," he told Sinar.

Jeniri was commenting on whether there was a need for parties in Sarawak including GPS to amend the constitution to prevent its assemblymen and MPs from party hopping or switching support to other parties like Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) did last week.

For the record, Bersatu has amended Article 10 of its constitution to allow any representative who violates the party's instructions and switches support to another party to be automatically dismissed as an assemblyman or MP.

He insisted that the party's action to amend Article 10 of the Bersatu Constitution was correct and in line with the current situation to prevent more representatives from defecting and expressing support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Jeniri added that the amendment to the Bersatu constitution was also in line with the implementation of the Constitution (Amendment) Act (No. 3) 2022 (Act A1663) which prohibited members of the Dewan Rakyat from jumping parties, which came into force on Oct 5 2022.

"I think Bersatu's action is very timely in order to fulfill the aspirations and loopholes found in the previous Anti-Hoping Act thus preventing any MPs or assemblyman from party hopping or switching support.

"I see the amendment as a proactive action taken by Bersatu to curb any negative perception and image of the party's leadership as if they failed to control and manage internal issues properly," he said.

Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Associate Professor Dr Romzi Ationg said all political parties including in Sabah should amend the constitution like what Bersatu did to prevent any assemblymen and MPs from shifting support.

Romzi said the weakness of the Anti-Hopping Act and the absence of amendments to the party constitution were the main factors of the political situation in Sabah which was always unstable, inviting the risk of the government changing leadership at any time.

"Although, the Sabah State Legislative Assembly has approved the amendment of the Sabah State Constitution Bill to enforce the ban on assemblymen jumping parties in May 2023, there are still many weaknesses and loopholes just like Act A1663.

"As an example of the shift of assemblymen's support en bloc which should not happen after the enactment of the anti-hoping law either at the state or federal level," he said.

Romzi's view was also supported by former Sipitang MP Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa who was also a former Bersatu representative in Sabah.

In fact, the former deputy finance minister II suggested that Bersatu held discussions with the parties in Sabah and Sarawak to jointly submit applications to the Registrar of Societies' (RoS) after each of them implemented the amendments to the party's constitution.

"With this method, Bersatu and parties from Sabah and Sarawak can increase pressure on the RoS so that their constitutional amendment application is approved immediately.

"If you follow the normal procedure, the RoS has no right to prevent or block any political party from amending their respective constitutions. But they can delay the approval process.

"However, I project that there is no need for the RoS to delay the approval process or block it. This is because other parties such as DAP and Umno have succeeded in doing so before," he said.