KUANTAN: The much anticipated anti-party hopping Bill will not be tabled at the Pahang State Legislative Assembly on May 8 as the opposition has requested more time to study the bill.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the opposition had requested for an extension and the state government had agreed.
"I had instructed the state assembly speaker to discuss with the opposition and the opposition had asked for a temporary postponement before it was tabled. The opposition informed that they need more time to examine the bill.
"They might give suggestions and on our side, if the proposals are reasonable, then we might consider making the necessary changes. It will be tabled once the opposition has provided suggestions and the state government has looked into them(suggestions)," he told reporters here last night.
Wan Rosdy was met at the Pahang Umno Hari Raya open house at Laman Sejahtera, Sungai Koyan in Lipis yesterday which was attended by Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
On April 12, Pahang state assembly speaker Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin said the anti-party hopping Bill is expected to be tabled at the Pahang State Legislative Assembly on May 8 and state assemblymen are expected to give their support with a majority of two-thirds.
He said it was based on the agreement of all Pahang assemblymen after a briefing on the Constitution (Amendment) No.3 Act 2022 (Act A1663) (Anti-Party Hopping) from the Legal Adviser's Office.
On March 27, Wan Rosdy was reported saying the state government was still undecided on the matter, but was willing to hold talks with the opposition before making any decision.
On March 29, Pahang state assembly opposition leader, Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said Perikatan Nasional (PN) elected representatives were prepared to hold discussions with the Pahang government on the anti-party hopping bill before it is tabled.
Pahang is among the states that have yet to implement the anti-party hopping law for assemblymen since it came into force at the Federal level on Oct 5, 2022.
The Pahang state legislative assembly sitting is scheduled for five days beginning May 8.
