Anwar loyalist Johari Abdul elected Dewan Rakyat speaker

Johari Abdul has been elected as the speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.

The 67-year-old PKR veteran was elected following a secret ballot on the motion tabled by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The House voted 147 in favour of Johari while another 74 voted in favour of former Kangar MP Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

Anwar now has a long-time ally in the powerful Dewan Rakyat speaker's seat.

Johari is part of Anwar's inner circle, alongside Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and they both hold key positions despite not being MPs.

Between 2018 and the middle of this year, Anwar entrusted Johari with being the chief whip for PKR lawmakers. He also headed PKR's Kedah chapter - despite failing to be re-elected as Sungai Petani PKR division chief in 2018.

Johari was formerly a National Civics Bureau director and three-time Sungai Petani MP.

He will also be the first speaker to preside over a House with a scion as a member.

Johari's son - Dr Taufiq - retained the Sungai Petani seat for Pakatan Harapan and is the only non-Perikatan Nasional MP in Kedah.

Johari does not hold any position in PKR. Both his attempts in 2018 and this year to be elected as the Sungai Petani PKR division chief were unsuccessful.

Yesterday, Johari resigned as the Gurun assemblyperson in a move widely seen as a prelude to his ascension as speaker.

Two deputies

After the lunch break, the Dewan Rakyat elected Ramli Md Nor (BN-Cameron Highlands) and Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (Harapan-Lanang) as deputy speakers.

An election was held as the opposition nominated Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah) for the job.

Eventually, the House voted in favour of Ramli and Lau with 148 and 146 votes respectively, defeating Mas Ermieyati who received 74 votes.

Previously, Ramli, 64, served as acting deputy speaker during the Ismail Sabri Yaakob administration.

As for Lau, her nomination was seconded by Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof (GPS-Petra Jaya) in a move that was likely symbolic of thawing ties between Gabungan Parti Sarawak and DAP.

On Nov 24, DAP apologised for making statements which offended GPS or Sarawakians in the past.

This was widely seen as part of a deal for GPS to back Anwar as prime minister.

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