Nga: Azhar, Azalina nominated as speaker, deputy speaker

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has put up a motion to nominate Election Commission (EC) chief Azhar Azizan Harun as the Dewan Rakyat speaker and BN Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said as the deputy speaker.

This was confirmed by Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming in an interview with Chinese media earlier today.

This will be the first motion to be tabled at the upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting on July 13, Nga was quoted as saying by Sin Chew Daily.

"I was made to understand that Azhar hasn't quit his post as EC chief," said the DAP deputy secretary-general.

To a question, Nga said he believed Muhyiddin wants someone who might listen to Umno or Perikatan Nasional to helm the EC.

"He (wants to) move Azhar to the Dewan Rakyat and pick someone who (may) listen to Umno or PN as the new EC chief for the sake of the next general election," Nga added. 

In his motion, Muhyiddin said Azhar and Azalina have agreed to their appointments should they be nominated and elected by the MPs.

The motion was submitted by Muhyiddin last month to the current Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof and Nga.

Ariff had said his office had accepted both motions for debate.

Azhar has been helming the EC since September 2018 while Azalina, a five-term parliamentarian, was, among others, the de facto law minister under the previous BN government.

However, Pakatan Harapan and several NGOs including G25 and Bersih have called for Ariff and Nga to be retained as speaker and deputy speaker respectively.

The second deputy speaker, Mohd Rashid Hasnon, who is also the Batu Pahat MP and now aligned with the PN government, was not affected by the motion.

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