DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang was today officially appointed as parliamentary opposition leader, marking the veteran politician's return to the Lower House after a five-year hiatus.

When sitting resumed this morning, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Dr Mohamed Zahir Ismail announced the appointment, to which opposition parliamentarians thumped their tables in approval.

He said Lim, who is Ipoh Timor MP, received majority support from opposition MPs and added that he could also enjoy the special benefits as opposition leader as stipulated in the Members of Parliament Act (Allowance) 1980.

According to parliamentary tradition, the leader is selected from the opposition party with the most number of seats based on a consensus among all parties.

In the March 21 general election, DAP won 12 parliamentary seats, PAS seven and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) one.

The previous opposition leader was PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who suffered a shocking defeat in his Marang parliamentary seat in the last polls.

Second tenure

This is Lim's second tenure as opposition leader. The 63-year-old politician had held the coveted position from 1973 to 1999, the longest ever in the nation's history.

This year, Lim moved from his power base in Penang to contest in Perak. This proved to be a wise decision as he took the Ipoh Timor seat with a thumping 10,000 vote majority defeating the Barisan Nasional incumbent.

Also returning to Parliament, was Lim's long-time deputy Karpal Singh. The lawyer-cum politican had also lost in the 1999 polls but made a comeback this year by winning the Bukit Gelugor seat.