Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor (left) and Alice Lau.
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor and Alice Lau have been elected as the Deputy Speakers of the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Dec 19).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had proposed Lau (PH-Lanang) and Ramli ( BN-Cameron Highlands) as the candidates from the government bench.
The motion was seconded by deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof(GPS-Petrajaya).
Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu) had mooted former deputy minister in the prime minister’s department (parliament and law) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin as the Opposition's candidate for the post.
Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul called for a ballot vote as there were three candidates while the Federal Constitution stipulated that only two Deputy Speakers could be appointed.
Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim (PN-Kuala Terengganu) seconded the motion.
Johari said each MP was allowed to vote for one or two candidates.
"One or two (names) are allowed, but not three. (Those with) three names will be counted as spoiled votes," he said when he was asked for clarification by Takiyuddin on the number of candidates an MP can vote for.
MPs who were nominated for the posts were also allowed to cast their votes.
Ramli secured 148 votes, while Lau got 146 votes.
Mas Ermieyati, who is the Perikatan Nasional's MP for Masjid Tanah, got 74 votes.
Earlier today, the House had voted via a ballot to elect the new Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.
Johari, who is the former Sungai Petani MP secured 147 votes while his opponent and Perikatan Nasional’s candidate Tan Sri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad received 74 votes.
Former Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon, who lost his Batu Pahat seat to Pakatan Harapan in the 15th General Election (GE15), was recently quoted as saying that he was not one of the candidates for the deputy speaker post although his name had been bandied about.
During the previous term, Ramli, who was Barisan’s Cameron Highlands MP, was tipped to contest for the post when previous deputy speaker Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said vacated the seat in August last year.
However, no election was held to fill the vacancy prior to the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10.
Ramli was instead invited by Azhar on several occasions to chair proceedings during the previous Parliament session. DAP’s Lau has held the Lanang seat for three terms.
