PN urges streamlining of Selangor speaker selection process

Selangor Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Mohamed Azmin Ali has called for the Selangor state assembly speaker selection process to be streamlined after former Banting assemblyman Lau Weng San was elected to the post today.

He said a circular dated Aug 22 stated that individuals who are not members of the state assembly can be elected as the speaker, as provided for in the Laws of the Constitution of Selangor 1959.

"However, when I refer to item four in the state legislative assembly Standing Orders, this matter is not included.

"It is different from the rules of Dewan Rakyat sittings, where the individuals eligible to be elected are clearly mentioned in the Dewan Rakyat rules," he said.

The Selangor state assembly session this morning witnessed a voting process for the speaker, in which Lau received 34 votes while Mohd Fuad Mohd Salleh of PN received 22 votes.

MalaysiaNow previously reported that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had agreed to DAP's condition that the Selangor speaker be appointed from the party if Pakatan Harapan won the state polls, in exchange for surrendering its Dusun Tua seat to Umno.

The assembly secretary J Gayathri Prasena said that both candidates had signed the consent form to be appointed as speaker after Azmin raised the issue of the candidates' willingness to serve in the position.

Tension arose when PN's Sijangkang assemblyman Ahmad Yunus Hairi questioned the numbers on the candidates' ballot paper submitted to the representatives, which showed number one for Lau and number two for Fuad.

Azmin, who is also Hulu Kelang assemblyman, suggested that the speaker election papers in the future need not include numbers as it is not the same as election voting.

Confusion also arose when the vote counting was carried out after Azmin questioned the process, before it was objected to by Selangor exco and Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Suee Lim.

"Our question is, can we appoint a counting agent to observe the (counting) process?

"If it is not agreed upon by the counting agent, at least the secretary of the council will hold up the paper for us to see," he said.