Prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today confirmed that former Court of Appeal judge Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof is Pakatan Harapan's candidate for the new Dewan Rakyat speaker.

“It is the ex-judge,” he told reporters when asked on the identity for speaker candidate.

When pressed if said ex-judge was Mohamad Ariff, Mahathir said "Yes."

Speaking at the sidelines after meeting with the Sarawak government this morning, the premier said that an official announcement will be made soon.

In an immediate reaction, Ariff expressed his gratitude over the appointment.

"I'm of course very honoured and humbled to be named as a candidate for election by the house as the next speaker," he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Ariff was previously named by Malaysiakini as the frontrunner for the speaker role alongside PKR’s Johari Abdul.

According to his official biography, Ariff started his career in 1974 as a law lecturer and subsequently an associate professor of the Law Faculty at Universiti Malaya, before venturing into legal practice as an advocate and solicitor in 1986.

The father of five is one of the founding partners of the firm Cheang & Ariff.

Ariff had a brief stint away from legal practice between 1993 and 1995 when he joined the then newly formed Securities Commission and became the first director of its market supervision department.

Role of speaker in doubt

In September 2008, Ariff was appointed judicial commissioner of the High Court and later, High Court judge in October 2009.

In September 2012, he became a Court of Appeal judge and held the post for three years until his retirement in early 2015.

Ariff currently holds the post of Amanah’s disciplinary committee chief.

He had previously contested the Kota Damansara seat under a PAS ticket in 2004, but lost to the late Mokhtar Ahmad Dahalan of Umno.

Despite being confirmed as Harapan's choice, Ariff's role as the new speaker remains in doubt when the first meeting of the first Dewan Rakyat session takes place tomorrow, as it is unclear if Harapan had submitted his name in time.

Standing orders require a name be submitted 14 days before Parliament convenes for the first time.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had stated that the coalition had only decided on a name on July 9, falling short of the two-week stipulation.

However, de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong claimed Harapan submitted the name on July 2, in compliance with the standing orders. 

Mahathir brief on Sarawak development

Mahathir, meanwhile, met with Sarawak state officials at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Kuching, where he was briefed on the progress of development in the state.

The 45-minute briefing was also attended by the state senior ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah, state ministers Dr Sim Kui Hian, Stephen Rundi and Wong Soon Koh.

This was Mahathir’s first visit to Sarawak since being sworn in as the new prime minister in May.

“I understand that the developments in the state is not limited to the city of Kuching, but also various other parts of Sarawak with foreign investors.

“There is a big potential in Sarawak. It depends how we can make use of the assets,” he later told reporters.

The state ministers, led by Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg also celebrated Mahathir’s birthday. The premier turned 93 on July 10.