Don’t delay anti-hopping law, Bersih tells govt

PETALING JAYA: Electoral reform group Bersih has urged the government to no longer delay the tabling of an anti-hopping bill.

It views the government’s postponement with “disappointment” and “grave concern”.

“Bersih calls on the government to table the bill as soon as possible in this parliamentary sitting to convince the public it is still committed to the reform agreement it signed with the opposition,” it said in a statement today.

It was commenting on reports that the Prime Minister’s Department had postponed the tabling of the anti-hopping bill to a later date.

But according to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had promised to table the bill in Parliament just last week, a statement which Bersih said the government had not denied.

“The government should not delay the tabling of the bill to the next parliamentary sitting as the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between it and Pakatan Harapan (PH) states that this reform should be implemented no later than the first sitting of the fifth Parliament session,” it said.

Bersih suggested that the bill be sent for review by a parliamentary select committee to obtain more feedback. This was also to ensure a more transparent process, it said.

Last month, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said although it was imperative to have an anti-hopping law to ensure confidence and good governance, there was no consensus on the term “anti-hopping”.

It was also earlier reported that PH had told the government that the MoU would be declared void if the anti-hopping bill was not tabled at the current Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Anwar said PH had told Ismail the MoU would be “automatically cancelled” if this demand was not met. — Free Malaysia Today