Does the anti-party hopping law contain a loophole? Yes, say legal experts

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KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 — Questions abound regarding the status of the Sabah lawmakers who announced their exit from Sabah Bersatu and what this means for the nascent anti-party hopping law.

The most immediate would be whether elected lawmakers wanting to switch parties post-general election could use Article 49A(2)© of the Federal Constitution to their advantage.

Sabah-based constitutional lawyer Tengku Datuk Fuad Tengku Ahmad said, based on his observations, Article 49A(2)© renders the anti-party hopping law “legally impotent”.

In the context of the four Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) MPs, Tengku Fuad said Article 49A(2)© has ended up protecting the act of party hopping.

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Auto-resign clause in unity govt MoU unconstitutional, says lawyer

PETALING JAYA: An automatic resignation clause in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between parties in the unity government may be legally suspect and unconstitutional, a lawyer said.

The coalitions that made up Anwar’s government recently signed an MoU ahead of tomorrow’s confidence vote, which effectively removed their freedom to vote as an individual MP in the Dewan Rakyat.

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Lack of definition on ‘ceasing to be party member’ a major drawback

PETALING JAYA: A constitutional law expert says the major flaw of the anti-hopping law is that it does not define what is meant by “ceasing to be a member of a political party”.

Shad Saleem Al Faruqi said the amendment to Article 49 of the Federal Constitution, by which the anti-hopping law came into force, was made with the intention of improving party discipline and curtailing the freedom of the MPs to move from one party to another.

“However, its great weakness is that it does not define what amounts to ‘ceasing to be a member of a political party’. Therefore, the party’s internal rules will apply to determine what causes cessation of membership,” he said.

He was commenting on an FMT report in which lawyer Andrew Khoo said the automatic resignation clause in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) among parties in the unity government may be legally suspect and unconstitutional.

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