Kit Siang won’t be on MP seat at new Dewan Rakyat session?

The veteran politician who has spent decades on the opposition bench may not be seated with other MPs when Parliament convenes next week.

Lim Kit Siang is easily Malaysia’s most vocal politician.

KUALA LUMPUR: After decades of sitting on the opposition bench, one of the country’s most recognisable politicians could be moving to the speaker’s seat when the Dewan Rakyat convenes for the first time next week after the 14th general election, a reliable source has revealed.

The source said the administration of Dr Mahathir Mohamad was now seriously considering Lim Kit Siang, the DAP stalwart who won the Iskandar Puteri seat in Johor in the May 9 polls.

An announcement is expected to be made after the weekly Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

The source said Lim’s name was thrown together with at least two others, including another veteran politician Rais Yatim, who openly declared his support for Mahathir during the general election campaign two months ago.

“While it is not hard to imagine Rais seated in the speaker’s chair, there is resistance by some in the ruling coalition, mostly because he is seen as part of the old guard,” the source told FMT.

The source also confirmed that PKR leader Johari Abdul, who was in charge of PKR MPs when the party was in the opposition, was the other candidate.

But it said Johari was not likely a favourite, following pressure from influential individuals who cite his past involvement in the controversial National Civics Bureau (BTN), the agency under the previous government that was criticised for carrying out “brainwashing” programmes for civil servants.

“Kit Siang has decades of experience debating in Parliament, not only with fellow MPs but also with the speaker over matters of parliamentary procedures,” the source said.

“He is a walking dictionary when it comes to house rules, so it is hard not to consider him for the post.”

On Sunday, PH chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah confirmed that the new speaker would be from among the MPs, in a departure from previous convention under BN.

He said the move was to ensure a sense of responsibility to Dewan Rakyat members.

The post was last occupied by Sabahan politician Pandikar Amin Mulia, who was criticised by then opposition MPs for scuttling debate in favour of BN, most notably on topics related to troubled state firm 1MDB.

Lim, 77, has been an MP since 1969, when he won the Bandar Melaka seat for DAP. He has since represented seven federal seats, including Iskandar Puteri, renamed from Gelang Patah, the seat he won in 2013 after defeating then Johor menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman.

He was easily the most vocal opposition MP during Mahathir’s first term as prime minister between 1981 and 2003.

He was suspended several times from attending Dewan Rakyat sessions. In 1992, he was suspended for insisting on an investigation into a scandal involving a company linked to MIC and state telecommunication firm Telekom Malaysia.

In March this year, he was again slapped with a suspension, but refused to budge from his seat when ordered to do so by Pandikar.

Lim was also appointed several times as the parliamentary opposition leader, serving the post for a combined 30 years. -FMT