Wan Junaidi sworn in as Senate president, Nur Jazlan as deputy

Former law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has been sworn in as the new Dewan Negara president, replacing Rais Yatim.

In the Senate today, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced the government's nomination of Wan Junaidi (above).

His appointment was approved by the Senate without a vote as he was the only candidate named.

Earlier, Wan Junaidi, along with former Pakatan Harapan minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa and former Umno minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed, were sworn in as senators.

In Wan Junaidi’s maiden speech as the Dewan Negara president, he said that despite retiring from politics, he decided to take on this position when asked because he wanted to serve the country.

He outlined the three main reforms to Parliament that he hopes to achieve during his tenure, that is, to enact the Parliamentary Services Act and amend the House of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act as well as the Standing Orders of the Houses.

A final reform he hopes to implement is something he said he has been working on since 2011, that is, to introduce an ethics guideline for parliamentarians.

“For me, the duties and responsibilities of parliamentarians are not to pick fights in the House and not to play up so much politics.

“Their duties and responsibilities… are to legislate and to approve the budget in order to uphold the government and additionally to provide service to the rakyat in the Malaysian political context.

“In such a situation, we should formalise what we have to do, such an ethic is important. Other countries such as India and New Zealand have it, so why not us?” Wan Junaidi said.

Meanwhile, Nur Jazlan was later sworn in as the deputy president of the Senate after a vote, as the opposition had also nominated its own candidate, Razali Idris, for the position.

However, Nur Jazlan garnered 43 votes to Razali’s 11 votes, while eight senators were absent.

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