Parliament may be extended two days to settle MA63, among others - Wan Junaidi
PARLIAMENT | The current parliamentary sitting may be extended by two days to complete debating a number of bills, including the constitutional amendments related to the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63), said de facto Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
"As we only have three days left for government bills, possibly we might request Parliament as well as the government to approve extending this sitting for two more days in order to pass all the bills that have gone through the first reading," he said...
PARLIAMENT | The current parliamentary sitting may be extended by two days to complete debating a number of bills, including the constitutional amendments related to the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63), said de facto Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
Although the current sitting is from Oct 25 to Dec 16, the current debates on the budget will last until Dec 13, leaving just three days for other matters.
"As we only have three days left for government bills, possibly we might request Parliament as well as the government to approve extending this sitting for two more days in order to pass all the bills that have gone through the first reading," he said.
The Santubong MP was responding to Anwar Ibrahim (Harapan-Port Dickson), who had urged the government to pass the constitutional amendments related to MA63 in this parliamentary sitting.
Anwar said he had received a guarantee from Wan Junaidi and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday that they would try their best to do this.
The opposition leader had also said the technical issues surrounding Undi18 must be resolved by the end of this year.
The government had tabled four constitutional amendments related to MA63.
Wan Junaidi had also provided updates on some of the reforms promised in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Harapan and Ismail Sabri's government, such as the enactment of an anti-hopping law.
He said the Legal Affairs Department (BHEUU), the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Election Commission (EC) are currently looking into drafting an anti-hopping bill and will present their preliminary findings to him at the end of this month.
The law minister said there would subsequently be a meeting with the party leaders in December to discuss the anti-hopping bill.
In a statement later, Wan Junaidi explained that the government needs to ensure the anti-hopping law does not infringe on Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees the right to freedom of association, among others.
“We are now looking at existing models among the Commonwealth countries, namely India, New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
“Hopefully, we will be able to present the bill on anti-party hopping by July next year,” he said.
Other initiatives that are in progress include limiting the tenure of the prime minister to not more than 10 years, a myriad of parliamentary reforms as well as the independence of the judiciary.
Wan Junaidi said the execution of these initiatives is a tedious process as it involves extensive studies, engagement with key stakeholders as well as amendments of the Federal Constitution and other laws.
“However, despite the complexities and challenges involved, things are moving.
“Contrary to what you read in social media, the government, under the leadership of Ismail Sabri, is committed to carry out these transformation agenda in line with the MOU,” he said.
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