PN’s Mas Ermieyati among 3 mooted for deputy speaker

 

Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Alice Lau and Ramli Mohd Nor are the three MPs said to be in contention for the two deputy speaker’s posts.

PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional’s Mas Ermieyati Samsudin is among three MPs nominated for the two vacant Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker’s posts, a source has told FMT.

Mas Ermieyati served as deputy law minister in Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration and is in her third term as the Masjid Tanah MP, having successfully defended the seat with a 4,411-vote majority in the recent general election.

The source said DAP’s Lanang MP Alice Lau and Umno’s Cameron Highlands MP Ramli Mohd Nor were also in the running.

Lau, first elected to the seat in 2013, retained the constituency with a comfortable majority of 11,544 votes in a four-cornered battle in GE15.

Ramli filled in as deputy speaker last March, becoming the first Orang Asli to preside over Dewan Rakyat proceedings.

The Dewan Rakyat’s standing orders stipulate that the Speaker may ask any MP to chair proceedings temporarily.

One of the deputy speaker’s posts was left vacant from August 2021 after BN’s Azalina Othman Said resigned, citing moral, personal and political conflicts.

Ramli, a retired senior policeman, became the first Orang Asli MP in January 2019 after winning the Cameron Highlands by-election. He was re-elected for a second term in GE15.

It was reported recently that PH’s former Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul and former Kangar MP Radzi Sheikh Ahmad of PN were in the running for the Speaker’s post.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun has said he would vacate the post by Dec 18 in line with the Federal Constitution. The lower house will vote for the new Speaker when it convenes the following day. - FMT