I would like to congratulate Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof on his election as Dewan Rakyat Speaker. Within the legal circles, Datuk Mohamad Ariff is well known for his great sense of impartiality, being fair, no-nonsense and independent-minded. Datuk Mohamad Ariff had gave up his posts in Parti Amanah Negara to be impartial and fair in discharging his duty.
As a Member of Parliament and a lawyer, I am fully confident that Datuk Mohammad Ariff is an excellent choice as Speaker. He will be fair and impartial to all as he was when he was on the bench.
However, over at Dewan Negara, we see the opposite. We have the Speaker being elected as the MIC President recently. Tan Sri S. Vigneswaran was appointed as Speaker on 26 April 2016 under the previous regime. The MIC president can thump his chest and proclaim his impartiality, but we all know where his alignment and loyalty lies.
I have as much faith in S. Vigneswaran’s impartiality as I had on Apandi when he was attorney-general. There is no moral ground for S. Vigneswaran to hold on to the position. It is convention for political appointees to step down from their positions once a new government was installed after a general election. This is to make way for the Pakatan Harapan federal government to appoint a candidate of its choice. If he insists on holding on to the Speaker’s chair, then he should, as shown correctly by our new Dewan Rakyat Speaker, resign from his position in MIC.