'Speaker need not be from Sabah Umno'

Kota Kinabalu: A call has been made for the vacant State Speaker post to be filled up by either of the two current Deputy Speakers and not necessarily from Umno but based on merit."The Speaker plays a very important role under the Westminster system of government. The sudden vacancy offers an opportunity for the State Legislative Assembly to appoint the new Speaker based on merits and certain required criteria," said Star Sabah Chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

Commenting on the resignation of Speaker Datuk Salleh Tun Said who was appointed as the new Communications and Multimedia Minister following a major Federal Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, Dr Jeffrey said whether Salleh has done a good job, it would be judged by the people and history.

Regardless, he should be commended for holding the fort with his two deputies at a time of many opposition lawmakers in the Assembly, he said.

"In choosing the next Speaker, Umno should not appoint any Tom, Dick and Harry, or Ali, Mohd and Rahim, so to speak just to fill the position with someone who is going to be obedient and subservient to the government of the day.

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"The other BN components should also ensure that this does not happen and agree blindly and obligingly," said Dr Jeffrey, who is also Bingkor Assemblyman.

Dr Jeffrey said preferably, the Speaker should be conversant in Bahasa Malaysia and English."Knowledge of the law would be an advantage given the intricacies of the position as head of the legislature which passes laws in Sabah," he said.

Perhaps, a good alternative would be to promote one of the two current deputies as their experience would put them in good stead, he said.

"Although neither is from Umno, it should not matter as Umno cannot be dominating everything including the Speaker's post. "The Speaker should also ensure that true separation of powers is practised in the Legislative Assembly and ensure that the Legislative Assembly acts as a check and balance to the Executive and Judiciary branches as promoted in the Westminster system.

"At the Assembly, the Speaker is the head and the Chief Minister, as head of the Executive, is only an ordinary member like the other 59 Assembly representatives," he said.

DAP Sabah Organising Secretary Junz Wong, on the other hand, suggested that one of the two Deputy Speakers, namely Datuk Johnny Mositun and Datuk Johnson Tee, be promoted as the "interim" Speaker for the next three years.

"I believe both the Deputy Speakers are more than qualified and have the experiences to be the Speaker," said Wong, who is also Likas Assemblyman.

According to him, the appointment of the Speaker was for a five-year term and since the term had run for two years, the new Speaker, if appointed, would have his tenure last after the next general election.

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"This doesn't seem appropriate," he said.

The State Legislative Assembly Speaker post had traditionally been held by Umno while the two Deputy Speaker posts are presently allocated to two component parties, namely Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS).

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