COMMENT | Parliament speaker - The Art of the deal

“I cannot abandon my secretariat and my staff have been 100 percent behind me since day one and with talk of a possible general election, I can’t abandon them.”

- Azhar Azizan Harun

COMMENT | All government positions are a compact between the individual and political interests. A deal, you might say, in which utilitarian value comes into play depending on the strength of the institutions and political will. This is the cold, hard reality of the democratic process

When rumours were spreading that the “liberal” darling of the Pakatan Harapan political elite was going to be nominated for Parliament speaker, the president of the Islamic group, Isma, Haji Aminuddin Yahaya said this: “Saya tiada masalah untuk menggantikan speaker yang lama iaitu Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof kepada seorang speaker yang baharu kerana saya faham akan keperluannya. Namun, kita mengharapkan yang dilantik nanti adalah tokoh yang dapat membantu menguatkan agenda Islam dan Melayu di Parlimen.”

Of course, nobody should be surprised that mainstream political dogma in this country would view what is supposed to be a non-partisan role in Parliament as a position to defend race and religion. The fact that when Azhar Azizan "Art" Harun (above) defended Oktoberfest and ...