Making history: An Indian as speaker

(New Straits Times) - IPOH: The appointment of an Indian elected representative to be speaker of a state assembly will be a first for the country.

And that piece of history is set to be made in Perak when the state assembly convenes next month.

The selection of an Indian candidate to sit in the speaker's chair has received the unanimous support of the political parties forming the tripartite state government of Perak.

"This will be a historic moment for Perak as well as the country.

"There has never been an Indian speaker in any of the 13 state assemblies since 1957," DAP national vice-chairman and Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran said yesterday.

He said in the hierarchy of the state government positions, the state assembly speaker was second only to that of the menteri besar.

The announcement that an Indian state assemblyman would be nominated as speaker was made by Perak DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham on Monday evening at a press conference here.

Ngeh, who is the senior exco in the new DAP-PKR-Pas state government, said all three parties had agreed in principle on this move.

His announcement came on the heels of the decision on Monday by the party's Buntong state assemblyman A. Siva Subramaniam to quit the DAP as he felt the Indians were being sidelined in the appointment to exco posts.

Siva later retracted his decision after being briefed by party officials that Indians will be appointed to positions of power, including as speaker of the state assembly.

When asked, Ngeh declined to name the Indian state assemblyman who would be proposed for the post, as he did not want to pre-empt the state assembly proceedings.

"We will announce one thing at a time," he said yesterday.

However, it is learnt that the likely candidate could be 37-year-old V. Sivakumar, DAP's state assemblyman for Tronoh.

Sivakumar is seen by many in the party as a highly suitable candidate for the speaker's post due to his academic background.

Source: Malaysia Today