Warisan to study Sabah anti-hopping bill before giving support

Parti Warisan (Warisan) is against party hopping but still needs to study a bill to be tabled by the Sabah government to prevent state assemblymen from switching parties, said Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said Warisan wanted to scrutinise the bill to ensure it could bring political stability to Sabah if it was passed and enforced.

"We do not want people to say Warisan does not support the anti-party hopping bill. We want it to be implemented as soon as possible but still, we need to know what is contained in the bill," he told a press conference in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

Yesterday, Chief Minister Hajiji Noor was reported as saying the Sabah government would table the anti-party hopping bill at the four-day sitting of the state assembly which began yesterday.

Shafie said to prevent party hopping, Warisan had proposed that Article 17 of the Sabah State Constitution be amended by adding Articles 17A and 17B and that it should be enforced immediately.
 
He said Article 17A, among other things, would require a state assemblyman who switched parties or resigned from his party to vacate his seat.

"The same applies to an independent candidate who after getting elected as an assemblyman, joins a political party. An assemblyman need not vacate his seat if his party is dissolved or deregistered, or he resigns when elected as Speaker," he said.

In Penampang, Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Malaysia (KDM) president Peter Anthony said the party was adopting an open mind on its former deputy president Juil Nuatim's decision to leave the party.

"We wish him all the best if that is what he has decided. We have no problems with that as anyone is free to decide their own direction in a democratic country. Our relations are still good," he told a press conference today.

When announcing his decision yesterday, Limbahau state assemblyman Juil said he is now an independent assemblyman supporting the leadership of Hajiji.
 
Juil said he had no misunderstandings with Peter and his decision was spurred by his desire to bring development to his constituency.

Peter, who is Melalap state assemblyman, said that prior to making his announcement, Juil did not submit any resignation letter or discuss the matter with the party.

In the 16th Sabah state election in 2020, Juil won the Limbahau seat on a Warisan ticket but quit the party in December 2021.

Meanwhile, Peter said KDM was standing firm in its decision to support the coalition government and the Sabah state administration.

He also said the party would support the anti-party hopping bill to put an end to the problem of party hopping in Sabah.