KOTA KINABALU, May 16 — An anti-party hopping law is unlikely to be tabled at next week’s state legislative assembly sitting, said Sabah Speaker Datuk Seri Kadzim Yahya.
The Speaker said that he received a request from Opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal to table a Private Member’s Bill on anti-hopping and forwarded the Bill to the state Cabinet for response.
“They responded that the state is also planning to table an anti-party hopping Bill. So I don’t think it is necessary for a Private Member’s Bill to be tabled,” he said during a press conference here today.
He told reporters that there were no details yet, so he did not know whether it would be tabled in the coming sitting which is scheduled to convene from May 22 to 25.
“So far, we have three Bills to be tabled. There are minor Bills seeking amendments. Maybe the state Cabinet will make a decision when they meet this week,” he said.
Kadzim said that he personally felt that an anti-hopping Bill should be tabled at a special sitting as it would involve lengthy debates.
Shafie, who is the Senallang assemblyman, had submitted a request to table an anti-party hopping Bill as the state government has yet to adopt the similar law by Parliament, which came into effect in October last year.
Since last year, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor said that the state intends to table the law.
Since then, an attempted coup and many crossovers have occurred, shaking up the state government. However, Hajiji has not given a timeline for the Bill.
