“With the revised edition of the anti-hopping Bill, even if Zahid were to sack Ismail Sabri, the latter can still remain a Member of Parliament and Prime Minister until the 14th Malaysian Parliament expires in July 2023”
Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
On the 6th of April 2022, the Government of Malaysia (GoM) announced that the tabling of a proposed legislation to prevent elected representatives from party hopping would be deferred, on grounds that the Cabinet intended to conduct more study on the definition of “party-hopping”.
The proposal, known as the anti-hopping Bill, had previously been scheduled for a first reading on the 24th of March, before it was rescheduled for a “special sitting” on the 11th of April.
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The latest announcement meant that tabling and subsequent debate of the Bill had been deferred for the second time around, to a date that had (then) not been determined.
On Monday, however, the date became known.
According to law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, the much-touted Bill would be debated on the 27th of July, followed by a winding-up session the very next day provided that there were no outstanding issues.
Note, the Bill is a revised edition of a previously drafted proposal that includes a ridiculous definition for “party-hopping.”
According to the previous iteration, should a political party sack a Member of Parliament, that Member of Parliament would have to vacate his (or her seat) and make way for a recall election.
In other words, a member of a political party who is sacked by said party is considered to have “hopped parties.”
However, the new version of the Bill completely reverses this, meaning, a recall election would not apply to a Member of Parliament who is expelled from a party.
This inadvertently creates a loophole, whereby a Member of Parliament can now openly declare support for a rival party and not lose his (or her) seat in the event that he (or she) is sacked by his (or her) own party.
Notwithstanding, the new version of the Bill may have quashed some hidden ambitions by the Court Cluster, particularly if the intent was to use the anti-hopping law to trigger the appointment of a new prime minister or the 15th general election.
Had the Bill not been revised, tabling and approving it would be akin to committing political hara-kiri for Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri.
This is because Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi could easily sack Ismail Sabri from UMNO once the Bill becomes law, thereby forcing Ismail Sabri to vacate his seat in the Dewan Rakyat.
The minute this happens, Ismail Sabri would no longer be Prime Minister, as a Prime Minister must necessarily be a member of the Dewan Rakyat.
This would have facilitated the appointment of a new Prime Minister, and it is rumoured that the Court Cluster had Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in mind as a potential candidate.
However, now that we have a revised edition of the Bill, this is no longer possible, as even if Zahid were to sack Ismail Sabri, the latter can still remain Member of Parliament and Prime Minister until the 14th Malaysian Parliament expires in July 2023.
Accordingly, should a vote be taken on the Bill before the 31st of July 2022, Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament are likely to support it.
This is because Ismail Sabri would have honoured a provision within a Memorandum of Understanding that the GoM had entered with Pakatan Harapan (hereinafter referred to as “the MoU”).
Najib and Zahid would have no excuse to reject the revised Bill, as they themselves insisted that the proposed legislation be tabled on grounds that “the rakyat wanted it.”
It seems that Ismail Sabri has successfully turned the tables on the Court Cluster.
Should the revised edition of the Bill be approved before the 31st of July, he would have met an unwritten criteria set by Pakatan Harapan as a quid pro quo to facilitate the extension of the MoU.
Should Members of Parliament associated with the Court Cluster then withdraw their support for Ismail Sabri, he can easily trigger a motion of confidence in parliament and prove his majority with the support of Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament.
It follows, Ismail Sabri would have to renegotiate the MoU with Pakatan Harapan to include support by its Members of Parliament, in the event that his position as Prime Minister is challenged before July 2023.
