PONTIAN MP Ahmad Maslan has withdrawn his bid to be the next Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker.

“I want to focus on my work as Umno secretary-general which takes up a lot of time, especially given the current political climate,” he told a press conference in Parliament today.

Ahmad said had already informed his party and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department ( Parliament and Law ) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar this morning.

“The prime minister will name someone else in the next couple of days in order to meet the 14-day notice period for nominations,” he said.

The next Parliament session will begin on October 25 lasting through December 16.

Ahmad is one of two MPs whose names were proposed to replace Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang-BN) as the deputy speaker after she resigned in August. The other lawmaker who is eyeing the spot is Nga Kor Ming (Teluk Intan-PH).

When asked if his decision was connected to Perikatan Nasional (PN) which rejected the government’s proposal to increase the number of deputy speakers to three, Ahmad said that his decision was made yesterday, and is unrelated to PN’s stance.

The Malaysian Insight had also reported last month that Bersatu MPs would reject Ahmad as the new deputy speaker.

“I decided yesterday before Perikatan’s statement today.”

He said that the deputy speaker’s role did not suit him as he enjoyed debating in Parliament.

“I like to debate and question the government in Parliament. What can I do as a deputy speaker other than to tell other MPs to sit down or leave the hall?” said the former deputy minister.

On the next candidate, Ahmad said he hopes that the individual will come from Umno. 

He said the previous deputy, Azalina, was from Umno and it would be appropriate to appoint another MP from the party. – October 7, 2021.