PKR deputy chief: Party will still hold Speaker position in Penang
GEORGE TOWN, Aug 21 — The Penang legislative assembly Speaker position will still be held by a PKR member, said Penang PKR deputy chairman Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
This is amid talks that other parties in the Pakatan Harapan- Barisan Nasional unity government are tussling over the post.
“As far as I know, we still get the Speaker position,” the Balik Pulau MP said when contacted today.
Muhammad Bakhtiar declined to comment when asked who will be appointed to be the Speaker this term.
He said there is still about a month to decide on who to appoint as the Speaker before the state legislative assembly is called.
The Speaker position in Penang has always been held by a PKR member under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state administration.
PKR’s Datuk Law Choo Kiang has held the position for two terms since 2013.
When contacted, Law said his tenure will end when a new Speaker is sworn in.
“I don’t know if I will be reappointed, this is up to the party leadership,” he said.
According to Muhammad Bakhtiar, the 40 newly elected state assemblymen will be sworn in first.
“They will be sworn in before the current Speaker,” he said.
The new state assemblymen are expected to be sworn in on August 28.
Law said previously, the state legislative assembly Speaker will be the first on the agenda to be sworn in to be followed by the assemblymen who will swear in before the new Speaker.
“This time I’m not sure, I’ve not received any notifications on this yet,” he said.
According to sources within PKR, Law was tipped to continue as the Speaker for the third term.
However there were rumours that former chief minister and DAP’s Air Putih assemblyman Lim Guan Eng is also eyeing the post.
Last week, Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow has said that he will propose for the sole Amanah assemblyman, Azrul Mahathir Aziz, to hold the Deputy Speaker position.
Azrul is a second term Bayan Lepas assemblyman who defeated Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau in a straight fight during the recent state elections.
The Deputy Speaker position was also previously held by PKR.
