Wan Junaidi (left) hands over some Ramadan contributions to a local community leader at the break-of-fast event in Kuching.
KUCHING (April 18): A suggestion has been made for the Anti-Party Hopping Bill to be granted consent first by the state governments and the respective heads of states before being enforced.
According to Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, this point was actually raised by Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and an agreement had been reached over the suggestion.
“We have agreed on that and it’s a far-sighted suggestion by the Premier.
“I think nobody would dispute it. I stand on the same ground as the Premier regarding the question of the state’s autonomy of deciding its laws, and not for the federal (side) to decide for the state,” he told reporters at a break-of-fast event with local community leaders in a hotel here yesterday.
Wan Junaidi, who is Santubong MP, said an unprecedented scale of engagement and consultations with the members of Parliament and the concerned parties had been conducted over the proposed Anti-Party Hopping Bill.
He said a total of 12 engagements and consultations had been undertaken over the Bill, including meeting the MPs in Sabah and Sarawak, as well as talks within the Federal Cabinet.
“Imagine the pressure faced by my officers and myself regarding the Bill.
“I do have many concerns and some of my officers have complained about the huge workload, but the actions taken by me so far seem to be correct,” he said.
Wan Junaidi pointed out that the Bill needed to be fine-tuned further as certain quarters had raised concern about possible abuse of power by the federal government.
In this regard, a parliamentary select committee was formed to study the Bill.
“As far as I am concerned and the same goes for the nation’s Attorney-General and the Legal Affairs Division, the proposed Bill has been carefully drafted and worded.”
For the record, the parliamentary select committee had met once April 15, and this would be followed by three more meetings – on April 21, 22 and 26.
However, Wan Junaidi remained tight-lipped when asked about the items discussed during the first meeting.
His only response to it was: “Even the name of the Bill itself has not been decided yet.”