PETALING JAYA: The country’s de facto Law Minister is having sleepless nights, staying awake till 4am or 5.30am every morning as he knows he is in a race against time to ensure a two-thirds majority is obtained in the Dewan Rakyat to end party-hopping.
“It is a heavy responsibility and I have been having sleepless nights, and then waking up very early in the morning just thinking about it (party-hopping),” Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic) told The Star yesterday.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Law and Parliament said several proposed constitutional amendments would tabled during the coming Dewan Rakyat meeting which begins on Feb 28, all of which requires the two-thirds support of MPs.The Perikatan Nasional government and the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in September last year aimed at reforms and political stability for the nation.
The reforms include the tabling of anti-hopping laws and limiting the tenure of the prime minister to two terms.
Together, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan can, at best, deliver 143 votes, just shy of the 148 needed for a two-thirds majority for any constitutional amendment.
Wan Junaidi said the draft Bill for the proposed amendments was being finalised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“I still have to meet party leaders before the Bill is tabled in Parliament. I have scheduled meetings from Feb 25 up to early March.
“The meetings will take place in Johor for Barisan Nasional leaders, Kuala Lumpur for Perikatan Nasional, Sarawak for Gabungan Party Sarawak (GPS) and in Sabah for the other coalitions there,” he said, adding that meetings with Pakatan Harapan lawmakers had already taken place.
In fact, the coalition chief and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in a recent speech, had threatened to withdraw support for the MOU if the anti-hopping law is not tabled and passed in the coming Dewan Rakyat meeting from Feb 28 to March 24.
Wan Junaidi said that once the Bill is tabled, he would call for a final meeting with MPs in Parliament to brief them on the amendments.
“We need to get everyone on board as the proposed amendments require two-thirds majority in the House,” he said.
Although there may be some heated debates, he said he was confident that the MPs would be on the same page on the matter.
Several amendments to the Constitution have been passed recently, with more than two thirds of the MPs giving their support.
On Dec 14, 2021, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2021 to empower Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the Malaysian federation was approved.
The Bill’s first reading was initially scheduled for Oct 26, 2021, but was postponed until Nov 3, 2021, as the parties involved could not reach a consensus on the proposed amendments.
The success came almost two years after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan government had failed to secure the two-thirds support on April 9, 2019, to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status. Only 138 MPs voted in favour of the amendment while 59 abstained.
On July 16, 2019, all 211 MPs present in the House voted in favour of the constitutional amendment Bill that paved the way for 18-year-old Malaysians to vote and stand as candidates in elections.