COMMENT | If I were Azhar Azizan Harun, I would be bracing myself for the worst to come in the days and weeks ahead.

It will be a very rough ride ahead for him as the newly minted Parliament Speaker. Azhar is probably aware that he would be having a torrid time at the helm of Parliament and he needs to give his all to make it less agonising.

If his first two hours as the Speaker having to face a fiercely hostile opposition on the floor (on July 13) is any indication, that day or night will surely come when he will ask himself, “Is this all worth it?”, perhaps during a quiet moment alone.

It would not be fair of me to be judgmental of Azhar, or Art Harun as he is popularly known, because I do not know him personally.

To be able to judge a man’s character or his worth as a senior or important public servant, you have to know him and observe him at close range. That is lacking in my case.

What I know of Azhar is that he is a lawyer by training, was a lecturer at UiTM and a long-time social activist...