KUALA LUMPUR: Several Dewan Negara members today urged the government to expedite the tabling of a bill for an anti-party hopping law to ensure political stability in the country.
Senator Lim Hui Ying said the government should table the bill as agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and Pakatan Harapan inked in September last year.
“The MoU signed must be respected and all the matters (agreed upon by both parties) should be implemented within the timeline agreed before the First Meeting of the Fifth Session (of the 14th Parliament) ends.
“As I mentioned in the last debate session, this MoU is not a blank cheque for the government to do as it pleases and I would like to remind the government to immediately implement the reform agenda stated in the MoU,” she said when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address at the Dewan Negara, here today.
Senator Datuk Razali Idris was of the view that the tabling of the bill should be done before the 15th General Election (GE15) was held.
According to Razali, he had also voiced his stance on the bill when PH was the ruling government then, but failed to get any response.
“I had raised the question when this anti-party hopping law will be settled during PH’s 22-month rule...and after 22 months there is still no proposed anti-party hopping law...I met Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during Perikatan Nasional’s administration, and he said currently we have to deal with Covid-19.
“But before the Covid-19 situation could subside, he (Muhyiddin) resigned. Then came the next prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and this is the best time for us to table, debate and support the anti-party hopping law before GE15,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Khairil Nizam Khirudin opined that the bi-partisan cooperation between the government and the opposition should be extended until next year to maintain political stability and ensure that Parliament is not dissolved until a ‘maturity’ period is reached.
“Malaysia is in a stable situation and there is no reason for us to put pressure on the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament earlier.
“We have deliberative democracy so the bi-partisan cooperation between the government and the opposition must be continued so that our country is on the right track for recovery,” he said.
The Senate session continues tomorrow. — Bernama
