KUCHING: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is facing repercussions as a rejected anti-hopping clause, allegedly dismissed during the drafting of the law, has come back to haunt the party as four Bersatu MPs pledged their support for the Unity government led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Former United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the draft anti-hopping bill presented to the Cabinet by then Law Minister Tan Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar contained a provision to declare a seat vacant if an MP went against the party stance or failed to comply with the party whip in the Dewan Rakyat.
Khairy said Bersatu was adamant in rejecting the clause, which was subsequently removed from the bill tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.
“The irony is that the ministers who had opposed the original draft are now the victims of this lack of the provision,” he was reported as saying by Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
Earlier, Khairy made these remarks in the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast, which he co-host with former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan.
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was reportedly saying that the anti-hopping law was flawed, and thus called for a review.
He said the law had weaknesses of which political parties could take advantage of.
Meanwhile, four MPs from Bersatu recently pledged their support for the Anwar Ibrahim government.
They are Kuala Kangsar MP Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid, Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul, Gua Musang MP Azizi Abu Naim and Jeli MP Zahari Kechik.
