Former Perak MB Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad
IPOH: The Perak government did not purposely delay the tabling of the anti-party hopping law, says Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.
The Perak Mentri Besar said there was not enough time for him to call for a state assembly sitting to table the motion.
"Our stance then was for the Federal Government to gazette the anti-hopping law first.
"We need to follow the Eighth Schedule (of the Federal Constitution) before we can call for a state legislative sitting and table the motion," he said in a press conference after launching the Perak Barisan Nasional Flood Volunteers Brigade at the state Umno Building here on Wednesday (Oct 19).
"And to call for a sitting, firstly, we need to bring it up at the state executive council meeting and after having gotten an agreement, we then need to get consent from the Perak Sultan. There is also a 14 day notice (to call for the sitting).
"I was in Belgium then (when the law came into effect) and there was no exco meetings held that week," he said, adding that the anti-hopping law could still be tabled after the 15th General Election (GE15).
"We did not have time to seek an audience with the Sultan and we did not delay it on purpose," he added.
On Monday (Oct 17), Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming had accused Saarani of deliberately not tabling the anti hopping law, opening up opportunities for elected representatives to switch parties after the elections.
Saarani also lambasted Nga for alleging that Barisan had planned to get some elected representatives to switch parties after GE15.
"It is a joke. You should ask him who stole from who first in 2009,," he said, referring to when Umno's Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasaruddin Hashim joined PKR.
"They stole our assemblymen first. He needs to do some self reflection," he added.
