He said months of discussions had been held, leading to a consensus on the draft law, which he said was the best compromise that all parties could agree to at the time.

“Pakatan Harapan had always said there is a loophole (in the law) but Bersatu was the one who said they prefer to leave it open like that,” Rafizi said at a press conference here, according to Bernama.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin had called for a review of the anti-hopping law after four MPs from his party had declared support for the government of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. They said they would not resign from Bersatu, which would have triggered by-elections under the law.

Muhyiddin said the law was flawed because it did not provide for MPs flouting party orders being required to vacate their seats, thus triggering by-elections.

However, Rafizi said: “To me, the loophole exists because parties such as Bersatu, unlike those in PH, did not amend the party’s constitution so that if an MP goes against the party’s way, that would constitute a resignation from the party,” he said.

If such dissension had happened among MPs of PH, “that’s not a problem, because the respective party constitutions have already addressed that loophole” during the negotiations in the last two years leading up to the draft of the anti-hopping law, Rafizi said.

He said Muhyiddin’s objection to the provision on dissenting MPs was based on his experience of being sacked by Umno for what he called “a moral decision” to criticise then party president Najib Razak over allegations of corruption.

Earlier in the week, DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook similarly asked Bersatu to amend its constitution to prevent its MPs from deviating from the party line on declaring support for a government.

Loke said such a situation had been predicted when the anti-hopping law was first drafted, and DAP decided to amend its constitution “after recognising the shortcomings of the anti-hopping law”.

DAP amended its constitution last year so that elected representatives who do not toe the party line on fundamental issues will automatically lose their membership.