MPs should not skip April 11 Parliament session

05 Apr 2022 04:48pm

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the ninth Prime Minister signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakatan Harapan (PH), in September, last year, for the sake of the country’s political stability. - BERNAMA Pic

The term 'frog' which refers to the people’s representatives who jump parties has become the talk among Malaysians when it causes several political crisis.

The never-ending crisis saw two prime ministers, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin stepping down from the position due to the loss of majority support.

Taking a lesson from what happened, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the ninth Prime Minister signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakatan Harapan (PH), in September, last year, for the sake of the country’s political stability.

The anti-party hopping Bill was among the items stipulated in the Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Stability that needed to be approved in Parliament.

For that purpose, Ismail Sabri as head of the Parliamentary Council agreed to hold a special Parliament session on April 11.

He also assured that the session would be extended if the one-day sitting was not enough.

The MPs’ votes will determine whether the motion is passed or not.

This will require the support of a two-thirds majority which is at least 148 MPs as it involves the amendment of the Constitution and to avoid it from being challenged by any party in court.

PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the party's MPs and PH were ready to debate and support the Bill.

Meanwhile, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan made it compulsory for the 38 MPs from Umno, two MPs from MCA, one from each MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) to be present on that day.

He said the constitutional amendment needed to be approved this month as the general election was near.

"To prevent a similar incident like in 2018 from reoccurring, where there were those who had “jumped party”, the MPs including those from the opposition needed to support this amendment," he said.

What is important is that all 220 MPs must be present, unless there is an emergency.

Do not let the government's failure to approve the motion related to Subsection 4 (5) of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) on March 23 be repeated again.