KUANTAN – Former Lanchang assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin was appointed today as the Pahang assembly speaker.
The motion to appoint Sharkar was proposed by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and seconded by the State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Biotechnology and Education committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abd Razak with no objections from members of the house at the first session meeting of the 15th Pahang assembly.
Sharkar replaced Datuk Seri Ishak Muhamad who was the assembly speaker since 2013.
Temerloh-born Sharkar was the Barisan Nasional (BN) Lanchang assemblyman for five terms since 1999, before losing the seat in the recent 15th general election (GE15).
He was formerly a state executive councillor (exco) and chaired the Tourism, Culture, Environment, Plantation and Commodity committee, as well as the Information, Science, Technology and Innovation Tourism committee.
Meanwhile, Bilut assemblyman Lee Chin Chen, from Pakatan Harapan (PH), was elected as deputy speaker for the assembly. His name was also proposed by Wan Rosdy and seconded by Soffi.
Lee, who was the opposition leader in the assembly in the last term, became a Pahang assemblyman in 2013 after winning the Ketari seat in the 13th general election before switching to the Bilut seat in 2018.
Today also saw all 42 Pahang assembly members take their oath of office, beginning with Wan Rosdy and then the 10 state executive council members, followed by other assemblymen, including opposition leader Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who is the Cheka assemblyman.
The Pahang government was formed through a partnership between BN and PH after no coalition obtained a simple majority of 22 seats after GE15.
In GE15, BN and Perikatan Nasional won 17 seats each, while PH won eight seats. Through the BN-PH alliance, Wan Rosdy was sworn in as menteri besar on November 28, followed by the 10 state executive council members, comprising eight from BN and the rest from PH, on December 2. – Bernama, December 29, 2022
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