The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) refers to the news report by Utusan Malaysia on March 13 quoting a source from the Prime Minister’s Department that the tabling of the anti-hopping bill will be postponed to another suitable date.
According to the Opposition Leader, Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri promised to table the bill in Parliament last week, a statement that the government has not denied.
We view the postponement of the tabling of the bill with disappointment and grave concerns. We call on the government to table the bill as soon as possible in this parliamentary sitting to convince the public that it is still committed to the reform agreement it signed with the Opposition.
The government should not delay the tabling of the bill to next parliamentary sitting as well. The Memorandum of Understanding on Political Transformation signed between the government and Pakatan Harapan states that this reform should be implemented no later than the first sitting of the 5th Parliament Session.
We call on the bill to be sent for review by a Parliamentary Select Committee after the first reading in order to get inputs and feedbacks from all stakeholders through a transparent and participatory processes.
During the Melaka State elections in November 2021, UMNO party president Zahid Hamidi promised that they would table an anti-hopping enactment at the state level to “strengthen political stability in the state.” At the recent Johor state election, Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni promised as part of the manifesto that an anti-hopping law would be Barisan Nasional’s top priority if they won the Johor Elections.
Given Barisan Nasional’s (BN) promises to enact such law at the state level and that they have won in both states, the federal government, of which BN is part of, should not delay further in tabling the anti-hopping bill in this parliamentary sitting in order to facilitate the passage of such law at state level in Melaka and Johor as promised in its election manifesto.
Released by,
Steering Committee of BERSIH