(Aug 17): An Umno minister has urged the disciplinary committees of Barisan Nasional parties to conduct an in-depth investigation into claims that certain quarters, including those in the Malay ruling party, are out to topple the government.

At the same time, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said also proposed that Putrajaya enact anti-hopping laws to ensure not only loyalty to parties but also to ensure people's trust on the parties they voted on are not betrayed by elected officials who leave their parties.

"I refer to the issue of some parties who are conspiring to topple the existing government, including those from Umno. I view this seriously.

"As such, I hope the disciplinary committee from BN parties will investigate this quickly. If the claim is true, then tough action must be taken because we cannot comprise on issues of sabotage and treason, which is against the country's democratic principles," she said in a statement posted on her website today.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said on Saturday that an Umno leader is behind a plot to topple the government with support from opposition lawmakers.

The Umno vice-president said as home minister, he had learned that they were preparing statutory declarations (SD) to remove the government.

"There is an effort to obtain SDs among the opposition lawmakers and to pull in Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers to topple the government.

"I received this information from very trusted sources. This effort is going on...the strange thing is that it is led by an Umno, BN member," Zahid had said when officiating the Ampang Umno division meeting.

Following Zahid's bombshell, Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah denied they were behind the plot.

Last night, Zahid confirmed Muhyiddin was not the leader he was referring to, but instead was an "elderly" senior BN leader who’s "ambition was never small".

Azalina today suggested that all BN federal lawmakers make open declarations as a show of loyalty to their respective parties to put a stop to speculations that had arisen since Zahid's shocking announcement.

In mooting the anti-hopping laws, the minister in charge of Parliament said there is also a need for amendments to freedom of association, which is enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, to ensure there is no conflict with the proposed legislation.

"I feel it is time for the government to enact anti-hopping laws as this not only question of loyalty to parties and political integrity, but it is also a question of betrayal to the mandate given by the people, which we cannot tolerate at all."

There had been talks about enacting anti-hopping laws but it has never materialised.

The then-Parti Bersatu Sabah government in Sabah had enacted such a law in the 1980s but it was later declared ultra vires to the Federal Constitution as it restrained one’s freedom of association.

Penang is the only state with anti-hopping law to stop party hopping, which was passed by its state assembly in 2012. – The Malaysian Insider