Both Pakatan and Perikatan to name candidates for Selangor speaker, deputy

KLANG: Both Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional will be submitting names as candidates for the position of Selangor assembly speaker and deputy speaker.

The speaker and deputy speaker will be selected and appointed on Tuesday (Sept 19), just before the state’s 56 assemblymen are sworn in.

There are 34 assemblymen from the Pakatan-Barisan Nasional unity pact and 22 from Perikatan.

According to a state government source, Pakatan is likely to nominate DAP’s Lau Weng San as speaker and PKR’s Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman Mohd Kamri Kamaruddin as deputy speaker.

Lau, the former Banting assemblyman, did not contest in the Aug 12 state election.

The source said Pakatan leaders feel Lau would be able to control the House, which is expected to be boisterous due to the increase in Opposition voice.

“He completed three terms as assemblyman and was an active debater in the House during his time as an elected representative.

“He has also shown that he can be stern when the need arises,” the source said on Friday (Sept 15).

A Perikatan source, meanwhile, said the Opposition coalition would also have two nominees for the positions.

“Although we know that we won’t get the positions, we will still submit the names as it is part (of the process) of a democratically elected government,” he said.

According to the Perikatan source, the two names will be from PAS.

“We are proposing Selangor PAS deputy commissioner III Dr Mohd Fuad Salleh for speaker and Sungai Ramal assemblyman Shafie Ngah for the post of deputy speaker,” the source added.

Shafie was deputy speaker in 2008 during the administration of the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.

The source also said there was a high probability that Perikatan partners Bersatu and PAS would unanimously select Hulu Kelang assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohd Azmin Ali to lead the Opposition.

The state government source, meanwhile, said if there were two names each for the post of speaker and deputy Speaker, selection would be done by ballot.

“All the elected representatives will be required to vote for the candidates they want as speaker and deputy speaker for the next five years,” he said.