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Kuala Lumpur: The draft for a proposed Bill to amend the Federal Constitution to enable the prevention of party-hopping among MPs has been finalised today by the parliamentary special select committee overseeing it, with the Bill and the committee’s report to be placed on July 18 on the MPs’ tables in the Dewan Rakyat on July 18, minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said today.

Wan Junaidi, who is the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of parliamentary and legal affairs, said that this committee had also answered several questions raised by some ministers during a June 1 Cabinet meeting and that these were brought to a Cabinet meeting this morning.

The special select committee looking into the Constitution (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 2022 and in relation to provisions prohibiting MPs from party-hopping’s report would serve as a reference to MPs when placed on their tables on July 18, he said.

Wan Junaidi said a timeline had also been agreed upon today for this Bill, where it is proposed that the Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) of the Prime Minister’s Department and the Attorney General’s Chambers hold an engagement with government MPs on July 25 and an engagement session with Opposition MPs on July 26, followed by proposed debates on July 27 and July 28 in the Dewan Rakyat subject to the Dewan Rakyat speaker’s discretion.

The timeline also proposes for an engagement session with Dewan Negara members on August 8, followed by the first reading in the Dewan Negara on August 9 and the second reading on August 10.

After the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara approves the Bill, Wan Junaidi added that the Bill would then be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong between August 11 and August 26 for royal assent, and that it is then expected to be gazetted between August 29 and September 2.