KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Umno will be ready to amend the party’s constitution to align itself with the Anti-Hopping Law in the upcoming general assembly that is scheduled to be by the end of December.
According to news portal Malaysiakini, Umno vice president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that the motion will be brought up in somewhere around December 21 to 24 where the Malay nationalist party will hold its generally assembly.
“[It is to] include provisions that will comply with the requirements of the anti-hopping law,” he was quoted as saying.
When asked whether it will reflect what Parti Amanah Negara and DAP had done in their respective party’s constitutions, Khaled said the details of the amendment are yet to be finalised as the Umno supreme council will set the path in a separate meeting.
“I still don't have the details of how this provision would be shaped, but it is aimed at making [the party constitution] comply with the law against party hopping so that it will be more detailed and in line with the law.
“Usually I would be in charge of handling the draft [of motions], but I have yet to get a decision from the supreme council on what it will look like,” he added.
Informally named the anti-party hopping law, the amendment was mooted as a bipartisan response to the so-called “Sheraton Move” of 2020, when political defections caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.
The collapse led to Perikatan Nasional coming to power unelected before the coalition was itself forced to yield last year to the Barisan Nasional that was voted out in the 14th general election.
The law was also part of the memorandum of understanding signed between the former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the PH coalition.
Specifically, it is an amendment of the Federal Constitution, which includes the addition of Article 49A (pertaining to members of Parliament) and a change to the Eighth Schedule (pertaining to state assemblymen).
The new amendments will cause MPs and state assemblymen to lose their seats if they switch parties, or if they join one after being elected as an independent.
There are three exceptions, however, namely the dissolution or cancellation of the registration of the politician’s party; the expulsion of the politician from his party; or the politician resigning from his party upon becoming Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat or his respective state assembly.
Following that, Amanah and DAP had amended their respective party constitution by making MP or state assemblyman that went against the party will be automatically dropped from the party.
This was made to prevent lawmakers from taking matters into their own hands and go against party decisions as the anti-hopping law does not see sacking sacking from the party as party hopping.
