PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil has warned MPs against standing in the way of the anti-hopping bill, saying they will be risking rejection by voters in the coming general election.
He said people might question the point of voting in GE15 if the Dewan Rakyat failed to pass the bill.
“Voters may ask why they should come out to vote if the bill is not passed,” he told FMT.
“Those (MPs) who vote against the bill or don’t come out to vote for it will have some explaining to do.”
It has been speculated that a handful of influential and senior politicians are against having the law in place before GE15 so they can lure newly-elected MPs to their side or jump ship to the winning side and continue in power.
One news report quoted an unnamed source as saying that MPs from Bersatu and PAS could be trying to stall the bill but most MPs from Umno, Pakatan Harapan, GPS and GRS were in favour of the legislation.
Another source said the new law had overwhelming support and could be passed easily with a two-thirds majority even if Bersatu, PAS and a group of Umno MPs voted against it.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said hesitancy on the part of MPs to pass the bill could be a sign of their lack of confidence in facing GE15.
“Perhaps they don’t feel confident going into GE15. So, they’re using every opportunity not to sign on to the anti-hopping bill because that might exclude them from the government,” he said.
Santiago told FMT he believed that those thinking of blocking the bill were preparing their next move, swayed by the thought that GE15 would be a close race, with no single party or coalition achieving a comfortable victory.
Political analyst Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara warned those intending to block the bill that voters would “severely punish” them.
He attributed Bersatu’s losses in recent state elections to the party hopping that made the “Sheraton Move” possible, leading to the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government.
Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said yesterday the anti-hopping bill would be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat when the new meeting begins on July 18, and was expected to be gazetted by Sept 2 once it was passed by Parliament. – FMT