Sabah to table anti-hopping bill soon – Hajiji

KENINGAU (Aug 28): The Sabah government will table an anti-party hopping bill at a special session of the State Legislative Assembly to be held soon, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said the state Cabinet had agreed to bring this matter to the state assembly after Parliament recently passed constitutional amendments to prevent Members of Parliament from switching parties.

“The move is in line with the state government’s commitment to create political stability in Sabah after facing political uncertainty for a long time. We support the anti-party hopping (law) and we will table it in the assembly soon. What has happened before is in the past, but now we want political stability in Sabah.

“The (Sabah) Cabinet has agreed to present constitutional amendments at a special session to stop party hopping so that we can sleep well. We no longer will have to watch here and there, jump here and there,” he said when launching the Keningau Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Tour at the Keningau community hall here on Sunday.

GRS’s first tour after its launch in May was also attended by top leaders of the GRS component parties, namely Bersatu, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and United Sabah National Organisation (USNO).

Hajiji, who is also GRS chairman, said Sabah did not want to be left behind in having its own anti-party hopping law.

Meanwhile, he said the state government has also taken steps to hand over the power to regulate electricity and gas supply from the federal government to the state by next year at the latest.

According to him, the related agencies in the federal and state governments are taking follow-up action for preparations from the technical and legal aspects because this will involve the legislative process at both Parliament and Sabah Legislative Assembly levels.

Hajiji said that in preparation, the state government will establish the Sabah Energy Commission. – Bernama