Let’s bring dignity back to the Speaker’s chair

[superadmin]

The head of the august House of Representatives in Parliament is the Speaker. Of course, the institution was something handed down to us by the British. Boy, based on the behaviour of the ones who once were or are Speakers, I believe the name is a misnomer.

Sometimes, I wonder if the translators of our Federal Constitution and early laws did the right thing in calling the Speaker the “Yang di-Pertua”. Translated, this normally is referred to as “President” in English when it comes to the Malaysian context.

This may be a coincidence but from the time Barisan Nasional has been calling the shots, the Speakers of our Dewan Rakyat have been behaving more like presidents of bodies and organisations, calling the shots according to the wishes of those who appointed them.

They never spoke up for the underdogs, resulting in a couple of them being questioned if they were the government’s lapdogs.

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