Election of deputy speaker postponed

The election of a Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker to fill the post vacated by Azalina Othman Said has been postponed to the next sitting, the second meeting of the fourth session of the 14th Parliament scheduled for October.

The motion on the election of a deputy speaker was originally listed in the Order Paper of the ongoing first meeting of the fourth session of the 14th Parliament.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the postponement was to enable an amendment to Article 57 (1)(b) of the Federal Constitution to increase the number of deputy speakers from two currently to three.

“We may make a regulation for one of the deputy speakers elected later to be a representative from the opposition,” he said when tabling a motion on the postponement of the election today.

The motion was passed by majority voice vote.

Article 57 (1)(b) states that the House of Representatives shall from time to time elect two deputy speakers from among the members of the House.

Wan Junaidi said he had discussed with the Attorney-General’s Chambers for the proposed amendment to be tabled for first reading at the end of the current meeting.

Earlier, Sim Tze Tzin (PH-Bayan Baru) questioned the need to defer the election and asked Wan Junaidi to justify tabling the motion on postponement when there were many parliamentary matters to be implemented, including on the transformation of Parliament and Budget 2022.

Azalina resigned on Aug 23, leaving Mohd Rashid Hasnon as the only deputy speaker.