Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has expressed disappointment that opposition representatives in Parliament failed to act in unison in voting yesterday for the new Dewan Rakyat speaker.

He told malaysiakini that MPs from DAP, PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) could have acted more maturely by coming to a consensus over their choice of nominee before casting their votes.

"I regret that no effort was made to act collectively on the issue. Some efforts should have been made even if DAP had not consulted the others," he said when asked to comment.

"Even if the MPs in PKR and PAS disagreed with DAP's choice of candidate, it would have been of great benefit if they had abstained from voting."

PAS and PKR parliamentary representatives - who are part of the opposition Barisan Alternatif front - broke ranks with their DAP counterparts to vote in the former Perak Menteri Besar Ramli Ngah Talib.

Ramli defeated DAP's candidate Dr Tan Seng Giaw who obtained only 10 votes from his party colleagues as opposed to the 185 votes garnered by Ramli, including eight from PAS and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

'Better candidate'

Anwar agreed that his view differed from that of his wife, Wan Azizah, but stressed the need to remind the opposition of the importance of a strong and united front in pursuit of the agenda for reform.

"I am in a difficult position, but I cannot compromise my struggle for reform," he said.

Anwar said Tan was obviously the better and qualified candidate given Ramli's track record.

"His track record while heading the Perak administration was not exactly rosy," he said.

When contacted, PAS Tumpat MP Kamarudin Jaafar defended the decision stating that DAP had failed to consult their opposition colleagues on the matter.

"We were never approached and that's why the issue was handled in that way. I believe we acted appropriately given the facts and circumstances," he said.

However, he admitted that no efforts had been made within BA either to discuss the matter with DAP, which left the opposition front over policy differences on Islamic state.

Kamaruddin agreed with Anwar on the need to forge a more united opposition front, but also said he did not think the episode would jeopardise future efforts to work closely with DAP on other issues.

"Of course we look forward to healthy co-operation among the opposition parties. I don't think any of us would avoid working together," he added.