MoU is ‘finished’ if anti-hopping law not tabled as promised, says Guan Eng

(FMT) –  The memorandum of understanding (MoU) that Pakatan Harapan (PH) signed with the federal government last September will be “finished and ended” if the anti-hopping law is not tabled as promised, says DAP’s outgoing secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

PH had insisted that the government enact an anti-hopping law by this month to stop defections that Lim said had “contaminated the entire democratic process”.

However, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said on Friday that the Cabinet had decided that the bill on the proposed law required “further deliberation” with stakeholders from Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional to ensure it could get sufficient support in the Dewan Rakyat.

“There is some confusion about the present status. The latest parliamentary order paper reveals a tabling for the first reading of the constitutional amendment bill tomorrow in Parliament,” Lim told delegates at the DAP’s annual national congress here.

“If the anti-hopping law is not passed as promised in the MoU signed by the prime minister, then the MoU is finished and ended,” he said.

PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim had earlier said that the coalition had told Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in January that the MoU would be “automatically cancelled” if the demand was not met.

In his last address today to party delegates before he steps down as secretary-general, a post he has held since 2004, Lim reminded DAP members that their success in gaining power at the state and federal levels was largely due to the party’s long-held principles.

Stating that the mandate PH received to lead the nation after the 14th general election in 2018 was “robbed” from them in early 2020 after the Perikatan Nasional coalition came to power through the Sheraton Move, he stressed that DAP would not work with PN since it had “betrayed” them.

“If we are stabbed in the back once, shame on them. If we allow them to stab us in the back a second time, shame on us,” he said.

Touching on the discontent among certain parties regarding the use of party or PH logos at recent state elections, the Bagan MP said it was vital for PH to use the coalition’s logo in elections to show it was united.

“As much as we want to use the ‘rocket’ logo in elections, we prefer to use the PH logo to show that we are a united front,” he said.

“This is important for future elections.”