KEDAH State Legislative Assembly Opposition leader Johari Abdul, who is expected to be nominated tomorrow as parliament speaker, has quit his Gurun state seat.

The former three-term Sungai Petani member of parliament announced today that he had sent his resignation letter to the state assembly speaker on December 13.

Johari will be challenged for the position of speaker by Perikatan Nasional (PN) choice, former Home Minister Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

The Kedah PH deputy chairman sat out the recent general election.

The 66-year-old won the Gurun state seat in 2018.

Johari, revealed his decision to quit as Gurun assemblyman in a two-minute video clip posted on his Facebook page today.

“I, Johari Abdul hereby am informing the speaker that I am vacating the N20 Gurun state seat that I represent effective immediately.”

“I wish to express my appreciation to the speaker for giving me the space to actively participate in the state legislative assembly sittings,” he said

This is the second time his name has been suggested for the position of Dewan Rakyat speaker.

He was the favourite for the speaker position when PH came to power in 2018 but had to make way as he would have had to resign as Gurun assemblyman, which PKR did not want him doing owing to the delicate balance of power in the Kedah state assembly then.

Johari, a staunch advocate of parliamentary reform was the parliamentary defence select committee chairman. Johari also championed the youth parliament and advocated more programmes for youth to be exposed to the ways of the Malaysian legislature.

Former home minister Radzi, a lawyer, is a member of Bersatu, which he joined after the Sheraton Move in 2018, having been with Umno previously.

He is currently a senator in the Dewan Negara and was sworn in to office on 17 June 2020.

Radzi oversaw several reforms including the extensive review of the country’s penal code during his time in office back in 2008.

Lawmakers will vote to choose a speaker tomorrow when parliament meets for the first time since the general election and is expected to win the confidence vote as the Unity government commands 145 members in the 222 seat parliament. –  December 18, 2022.