KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today clarified to the Senate the three main criteria, as contained in the in the administrative draft of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, that define party hopping by a Member of Parliament.

He said the first criteria is when a member of parliament announces leaving the political party he/she contested for in an election to be an Independent member or join another political party.

"The second is when a Member of Parliament is expelled from the political party. This is for the purpose of ensuring that MPs abide by the constitution, as well as the party rules and regulations.

"The party that sacked the Member of Parliament concerned will face the risk of losing the seat and an election will have to be held again," he said in response to a question from Senator Datuk John Ambrose.

Ambrose wanted to know the action taken and plans that had been drawn up for the implementation of the anti-hopping law.

Wan Junaidi said anti-hopping law would also be applicable to Independent MPs who announced to join any political party after their victory.


He said this was because the action by the MP is considered a breach of the trust given by the people because during the election, the people voted for him/her because he/she was an independent candidate, instead of the other contenders.

"If a Member of Parliament is free to join any party, an election must be held again and the individual is not disqualified from contesting on behalf of the new party within 60 days of his dismissal (as a Member of Parliament) and the matter will be announced by the Dewan Rakyat as as required under Clause 1 Article 54 of the Federal Constitution," he added.

Wan Junaidi said with the enforcement of the anti-hopping law, party hopping could be prevented with the requirement for re-election to ensure the mandate is returned to the people in the event of a party hopping by by MPs.

However, he said, in a situation involving a dissolution of a political party, its Member of Parliament would not be considered party-hopping when joining another party.


Meanwhile, in a statement, Wan Junaidi said the Bill would only involve elected representatives and not the senators as Members of Parliament (MPs) were given the mandate by the people in their constituencies that needed to be implemented.

"The law that will be enacted is an amendment to the Federal Constitution and is not a specific act so that the law remains and is difficult to challenge.

"In this regard, the enactment of this Bill should be implemented carefully so that it can be applied for a long period and is not easy to amend," he said.

Wan Junaidi said the government had conducted six engagement sessions including with MPs from both sides of the divide, Dewan Negara members as well as political parties representatives to explain policy matters regarding the Bill.

He said the Transformation and Political Stability technical committee meeting, which is expected to be joined by representatives from the government and opposition blocs will convene to refine key matters of the Bill.

On March 24, Wan Junaidi said the prime minister had given his assurance that a special Dewan Rakyat sitting will be held to table the Bill and the limitation of the Prime Minister's tenure on April 11.

However, it was subject to the approval of the Cabinet meeting which will be held on April 6, he added.

-- BERNAMA