KUALA LUMPUR: There is an immediate need for law reform, including the anti-hopping law to ensure confidence and good governance in Malaysia.
\nMinister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Department (Parliament and Law),\u00a0Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said a anti-hopping law was required to enhance political stability, public confidence in the democratic process as well as to ensure respect for the decision made by the electorate.
\n\u201cSome countries like India, Singapore and the United Kingdom have the anti-hopping or anti-defector\u00a0law\u00a0or amendments to the related laws including the constitution that provides for expulsion or vacation of seats of the hoppers.
\n\u201cIn Malaysia, we need proper and adequate engagement on what is actually required for our country. This, I must say is not an easy task as politicians and political parties all have their own views and opinions on this matter.\u201d
\nWan Junaidi said this in his special ministerial address of \u2018Parliamentary and Legal Reforms Towards Enhancing Governance and Economic Prosperity\u2019 at the 2021 Asia Economic and Entrepreneurship Summit conducted virtually today.\u00a0
\n“Limiting the Prime Minister’s term to not more than 10 years is another important reform as it provides\u00a0reassurance to the people that no one person can stay in office for too long, as well as reducing the possibility of corruption and other malpractices\u00a0like nepotism and cronyism,\u201d he said.
\nAccording to Wan Junaidi, such a reform would allow\u00a0for a change in leadership policy-making and provided\u00a0an opportunity for fresh ideas and healthy competition while\u00a0strengthening democracy.
\nMeanwhile, he said\u00a0the\u00a0Election Commission was\u00a0working hard to ensure that the 18-year-old voting age and automatic registration of voters could be done within the given time frame, and that included\u00a0amending the subsidiary legislation and ensuring the logistical and infrastructural requirements all over Malaysia were\u00a0in place.
\nHe said the\u00a0other law reforms would include constitutional amendments in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 as his\u00a0focus as the minister in charge of law was\u00a0to look at substantial legislative amendments to the Federal Constitution which would provide clarity to the position of Sabah and Sarawak.
\nTouching on parliamentary reform, Wan Junaidi said it was important for the Parliamentary Services Act\u00a0to be re-enacted, allowing full independence for Parliament and ensuring that the august house upholds the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judiciary.\u00a0
\n\u201cAt the same time, it will allow laws to be better scrutinised where parliamentary democracy is\u00a0maintained through the strengthened Parliamentary Select Committees,\u201d he added.
\nWan Junaidi also said that there was a need to amend the House of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 since it could be considered an archaic law.
\nOn another note, he said transformation in the government sector embodied\u00a0noble values and solidarity across religious, racial and cultural backgrounds in the context of \u2018Keluarga Malaysia\u2019 (the \u2018Malaysian Family\u2019).
\n\u201cMalaysia\u2019s immediate priority is to sustain the management of the ongoing pandemic and its effects on individuals, households\u00a0and\u00a0businesses.
\n\u201cThus, protecting the lives and health of citizens is vital to ensure a safe resumption of economic activities and the prevention of a protracted economic downturn,\u201d said Wan Junaidi.
\n— BERNAMA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KUALA LUMPUR: There is an immediate need for law reform, including the anti-hopping law to ensure confidence and good governance in Malaysia. Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Department (Parliament and Law),\u00a0Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said a anti-hopping law was required to enhance political stability, public confidence in the democratic process as well […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6998,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6996\/revisions\/6998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}