KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed anti-hopping law should be tabled in the current Dewan Rakyat meeting, says Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz.

       "What is important is that the proposed laws are tabled in Parliament. We have to install it here first in Parliament and if there are any weaknesses, we can tweak it later at the committee stages.

       "We can rectify it if there are any weaknesses or add to it if needed.

       "Let us first have the laws tabled here," the Padang Renggas MP said when debating the Supply Bill in Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (March 22).

       Last September, the Perikatan Nasional government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pakatan Harapan to bring reforms and political stability for the nation.

       Among the agreement was that the Opposition would not push for early general election before July 31, and the reforms include the tabling of anti-hopping laws.

       A special bipartisan committee was set up to look into the suitable proposed anti-hopping laws.

       Last month, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar assured that the proposed law would be tabled during the current Dewan Rakyat meeting which ends on Thursday (March 24).

       Wan Junaidi hinted that amendments to the Federal Constitution would be done to stop party hopping rather than passing a specific law for the purpose.

       However, on March 19, Wan Junaidi said that the tabling of the proposed amendments would be delayed or held during a special Dewan Rakyat sitting.

       Wan Junaidi said the Cabinet was of the opinion that the proposed Bill still required further consultation through engagement sessions with other stakeholders, particularly Barisan Nasional and Perikatan.

       Meanwhile, Nazri, who is a senior Barisan MP, acknowledged that there may be differences among political parties as to the type of anti-hopping laws which should be tabled.

       However, he said this could be ironed out at the later stages after the anti-hopping Bill is first tabled.

       "I believe that we support the Bill 100% unless they (MPs) are the frogs themselves, which are only a minority," he added.

       He reminded the present administration that they had signed an MOU to table anti-hopping laws, which should not be delayed.

       "The Cabinet should not dwell on it any longer.

       "We have an MOU with the Opposition and one way to show our sincerity in the matter is to table the anti-hopping laws during the current Dewan Rakyat meeting," he said.

       Nazri suggested that a special Dewan Rakyat sitting is held if the Bill cannot be passed during this present meeting.

       Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PH-Pokok Sena) asked if Nazri would support if the Bill is tabled first and that the Dewan Rakyat meeting is extended to pass the law.

       To this, Nazri said he would support any effort to table the anti-hopping laws as long as it is tabled during this meeting.