Zaid To Propose Anti-hopping Law To Cabinet

KOTA BAHARU, March 22 (Bernama) -- Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim said today he would propose to the Cabinet the formulation of the Anti-Hopping Law to put a stop to party-hopping by politicians.

He said the act of switching political parties by politicians after winning the general election on their former parties' tickets was immoral.

"We cannot allow people who contested on a particular party's ticket, make all kinds of promises to convince the people and after winning, they switched over to another party.

"To me, these people have no integrity and I hope the government can formulate a special law. It's high time that we have the `Anti-Hopping Law' to stop such acts," he told reporters at a press conference at his residence, here.

He said although switching political party was not against the federal constitution, it had negative impact on the country's administration.

Mohd Zaid said he would propose that the matter be discussed at the Cabinet, adding that such a law had already been adopted in several countries including India.

He believed the formulation of the proposed law would be supported by the opposition too.

"The proposed law will benefit all parties. It's an issue that is good for national stability, that respects the aspiration of the people, why can't the opposition support it," he said.

"I'm making the proposal to help overcome the crisis in the era of the new democracy in the country so that it will be more orderly.

"We have to accept the fact that after this, there probably will not be any more parties winning more than 200 seats (in Parliament), we have to learn to live together, the Barisan Nasional (BN), PAS and PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat)," he said.

On his new job as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, the former Kota Baharu member of parliament said he would discharge his responsibility in the best manner possible to ensure that the country's legal system was cleaner and that the judiciary would be more transparent.

"Many people question whether we are serious in restoring the image of our judiciary. I'm serous about bringing change.

"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is also serious about making the changes. I would not have accepted the post if I was not convinced that the Prime Minister is serious on the matter," he said.

Mohd Zaid, 57, who has a law degree from the University of London and a Barrister-at-Law, Inner Temple, is a senior partner at Zaid & Co, one of the biggest Bumiputera law firm in the country.

Meanwhile, Mohd Zaid said Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno did not have to take heed on the call by certain groups for drastic changes including changing the party leadership following the party's dismal showing in the recent general election.

On the other hand, he said BN and Umno must retain and strengthen the existing leadership to face the growing influence of the opposition.

However, he said the BN and Umno must reexamine several issues including the approach used which might no longer be suitable now in regaining the people's support.

-- BERNAMA