No special sitting for anti-hopping bill
Instead, the bill will be tabled during the prior scheduled second meeting of the Dewan Rakyat for this year which begins on July 18.
In a statement, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said...
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will not call for a special meeting of the Dewan Rakyat for the new bill on laws restricting MPs from switching parties.
Instead, the bill will be tabled during the prior scheduled second meeting of the Dewan Rakyat for this year which begins on July 18.
In a statement, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said he was informed today that the prime minister had made this decision because many MPs will be abroad on official business between early and mid-July.
"For example, there are two Parliamentary select committees (PSC) that will be abroad (during that period). They are the PSC on finance and economy as well as the PSC on security," he said.
Under Standing Order 11(3), the prime minister can convene a meeting of the Dewan Rakyat with a 14-day notice. If a notice was issued today, the Dewan Rakyat can convene on June 24.
As the bill involves amendments to the Federal Constitution, Ismail Sabri will require 148 MPs to pass it. So far, there are no parties that have publicly objected to the bill while most major parties or coalitions are represented on the select committee which refined the bill.
Wan Junaidi said the prime minister also cited cost savings as another reason for not holding the special sitting, which would have involved both the lower and upper houses.
"In total, the cost to be borne by the government is approximately RM1,077,600 which does not include operation costs if the special meeting is conducted," he said.
He said that although there will not be a special meeting, MPs will have more time to scrutinise the bill during the regular meeting scheduled to begin on July 18.
The bill to create laws aimed at preventing MPs from switching parties is a key component of Ismail Sabri's confidence-and-supply agreement with Pakatan Harapan.
Under the terms of the agreement, the passage of the bill was supposed to have been completed during the first meeting of Parliament this year. That deadline lapsed on March 24.
Ismail Sabri then convened a special meeting of the Dewan Rakyat on April 11 to table the bill. That attempt was stymied by the cabinet’s last-minute changes to the bill.
Instead, the April 11 special meeting decided to form a new select committee specifically to refine the bill. At the time, Ismail Sabri had promised to call a special sitting to deal with the bill by end of May.
