KUALA LUMPUR: The first parliamentary session under the unity government will kick off Dec 19, but speculation is already rife as to who will be the next Dewan Rakyat Speaker.
It is understood that tomorrow is the last day to notify and submit notice regarding the appointment of the Speaker to the secretary of the Lower House of Parliament.
To date, two names are being touted to replace outgoing Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun who has indicated that he will remain in office until Dec 18, a day before the 15th Parliament sits.
They are the former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law), Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, and former Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.
But the duo, when contacted by BH, said they had yet to receive any notification of such nomination.
Ariff has experience as the Dewan Rakyat Speaker during the 22-month Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration following the 14th General Election.
Wan Junaidi was previously a Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker.
"There is... the condition that the person appointed as Yang di-Pertua (Speaker) must be contacted by the government before Parliament convenes (on) whether he agrees or not.
"In addition, based on the conditions under Article 48 of the Federal Constitution, a person who is eligible to be a member of Parliament is also eligible to be Speaker.
"When a person is eligible, he will be contacted first whether he agrees or not, if he agrees a letter will be sent, and there must be a record.
"The person proposed to be appointed as Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat should also have been contacted during this period but I have not been informed of anything," he said.
Wan Junaidi, who represented the Santubong Parliamentary Constituency since 2004, did not contest in last month's 15th General Election.
Last Friday, Azhar confirmed that he would vacate his position as the Dewan Rakyat Speaker and that the new Parliament sitting will be run by the Dewan Rakyat Secretary until a new Speaker is elected.
Wan Junaidi added that the new lower house of Parliament Speaker must be someone neutral in politics.
He said, based on the Federal Constitution, a Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat did not end his term of office with the dissolution of Parliament, rather his responsibilities only end with a new appointment.
Meanwhile, Ariff said that he had no information regarding the appointment until now and asked to wait until Monday.
"We have to wait for tomorrow... tomorrow is the last day to send a notice to the secretary (Dewan Rakyat)," he said.