ANY amendment to the anti-party hopping law would require thorough bipartisan discussion and agreement, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
“The government has agreed to look at that (amendment).
“If the Prime Minister directs me during a Cabinet meeting to bring a note in terms of the new policy, I am prepared,” she told reporters when met at the Dewan Rakyat building yesterday.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government was open to holding discussions to fix any loopholes in the anti-party hopping law.
Azalina said she had also previously proposed a “recall remedy” to be included in the Act, but the matter was not agreed to by the government led by Perikatan Nasional at the time.
“We did mention ‘recall’ and also questioned what are the consequences if party members are disciplined or sacked. The government at that time did not want to address these issues yet,” she said, Bernama reported.
On June 20, Bersatu submitted a notice to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, requesting that the seats of its six former MPs who had declared support for the Prime Minister be vacated.
The notice was submitted based on provisions of Article 49A(1)(a)(ii) of the Federal Constitution, which states that a member of the House of Representatives shall cease to be a member of the House, and their seat shall fall vacant, when they cease to be a member of a political party.
However, Johari on July 10 decided that the six MPs were to retain their seats. They are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang).
Meanwhile, the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2024, which seeks to improve Malaysia’s standing in the global international arbitration community, was tabled for first reading.
Among the key amendments in the Bill is the one to Section 38 (1), which entails the recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards.
“With this amendment, an award made in respect of an arbitration shall be recognised as binding at the first instance without requiring an application to be made to the High Court for its recognition,” the Bill reads.
Without the amendments, an application in writing to the High Court is required for an award to be binding.
Other amendments to Section 9 are in relation to the form of arbitration agreement: “With this amendment, an arbitration agreement is in writing if it is contained in an exchange of any other documents and not just confined to a statement of claim and defence.”
The Bill was tabled by Azalina, who said the second reading of the Bill will be presented in the same meeting of the Dewan Rakyat.
