There should be no excuse of any sort to delay the adoption of the anti-hopping bill.

Party-hopping has become a “norm” after the 14th general election in 2018.

First, we had some Umno elected reps (some holding senior positions in government today) defecting to Mahathir’s party Bersatu.

Such wicked act was nevertheless left uncensured and was lauded as a move to further strengthen Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan.

The same thing had also planted the seed for the 2020 late February Sheraton Move that took down the PH government, dashing hopes for a change of government that many Malaysians had fought so hard over the decades.

Party-hopping is a disgrace to democratic politics and a deep agony of many Malaysians as well as the stumbling block for the nation’s progress. As such, anti-hopping bill, along with recall election bill and the sunshine law to stem public sector corruption, have become a consensus among most politicians (with the notable exception of a handful of lawmakers who have jumped ship for lucrative government posts) and the general public alike.

Malaysian politics will never be peaceful and our democratic politics will continue to be exploited by a small group of rogue politicians betraying the voters’ mandate, unless and until the anti-hopping bill is eventually adopted and enacted as law.

Muhyiddin rose to power as the country’s prime minister in March 2020 following the Sheraton coup, but was forced to step down in under 18 months last August.

During that time, vicious political fights remained very much alive in Malaysian politics. First, we had Pakatan’s failed attempt to win back the administration, followed by Ahmad Zahid’s successful plot to bring Umno back to the forefront of power.

As Ahmad Zahid still had court cases to attend to, Umno vice president Ismail Sabri Yaakob was made the new prime minister.

Let’s not talk about how Ismail’s seniority in party has made him a lame duck PM now, at least he has introduced seven parliamentary and administrative reforms after taking office, plus an MoU signed with PH to ensure political stability.

The most talked-about reforms are the anti-hopping bill to end the unhealthy and absurd party-hopping phenomenon once and for all; Undi18 which was first implemented in the just concluded Johor state election; and limiting the PM’s tenure to ten years.

All these three reforms mark a major milestone in the country’s democratic politics.

Now that MPs on both sides of the political divide have reached a consensus on the proposed anti-hopping bill, by right it should have been tabled long ago.

DAP’s Nga Kor Ming has revealed earlier that PH has reached an agreement with the PM to table the anti-hopping bill along with an amendment to Article 119 of the Federal Constitution, for debate and third reading before the current parliamentary session ends.

Unfortunately, minister in the PM’s department in charge of parliamentary and legal affairs Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the anti-hopping bill and the 10-year tenure for PM would only be tabled after obtaining the views and input of all parties involved.

Meanwhile, home minister Hamzah Zainuddin said the tabling of anti-hopping bill would be deferred to avoid abuse of power by party leaders. What an excuse!

Will the bill be eventually killed if its tabling keeps being deferred with an early election to be called soon? By the way, the second meeting of the fifth session of the 14th parliament will only be in July!

From the information made available to Sin Chew Daily, law minister Wan Junaidi will likely call for a 2-day special parliamentary sitting next week in accordance with Dewan Rakyat Standing Order 11(3) as the current meeting will end this Thursday. However, he has declined to elaborate on the agendas of the special sitting.

Let’s hope that the anti-hopping bill and PM’s 10-year tenure will both be passed in the special sitting. Since this is what most lawmakers and the rakyat in general have wanted, there should be no excuse to delay it any further.