July 27 and 28 for Anti-Party Hopping bill debate in Parliament

KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed Anti-Party Hopping bill will be debated in the Dewan Rakyat on July 27 and 28, subject to the discretion of the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the amendments to the Federal Constitution (No. 3) 2022 on the Prohibition of Members of the House of Representatives from Changing Parties and the statement (Report) from the select committee would be placed on the table of the members of Parliament (MP) on July 18.

He said the statement (Report) would be made as a reference to all MPs.

This timeline was decided following a select committee meeting at cabinet this morning.

“The timeline of the Federal Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No. 3) also proposed the engagement sessions of the Legal Affairs Division and the Attorney-General’s Chambers with government MPs on July 25, while engagement sessions with opposition MPs will be held on July 26.

“The timeline also proposed an engagement session with Dewan Negara members on Aug 8, the first reading on Aug 9, and second reading on Aug 10,” he said in a statement today.

Wan Junaidi added that once the bill was approved, it would be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Article 66 of the Federal Constitution between Aug 11 and 26 for approval and gazetted is expected to be made between Aug 29 and Sept 2.

Earlier in June, Wan Junaidi had said the Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun had given an explanation to the cabinet regarding the constitutional amendment required and that there was no objection to the draft proposed by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee.

He said, however, the cabinet wanted two issues to be detailed and refined by the committee, but did not disclose the details of the matters that were raised.

The Second Meeting of the Fifth Session of the 14th Parliament begins on July 18, and ends on Aug 4.

NST