KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Kimanis MP Datuk Seri Anifah Aman today defended his decision to stay seated in Dewan Rakyat while other peers, with the exception of Khairy Jamaluddin, stormed out during the swearing in of the new Speaker.

In a statement, the former foreign affairs minister said he did not feel the need to join his Opposition colleagues in the walkout as they had already made their dissatisfaction known.

"We have expressed our disagreement against the process of appointing the Speaker.

"I respect the views of my peers who stood as Opposition today. But, I am of the opinion that it was uncalled for me to leave the Dewan this morning.

"This is my opinion and I will act for any issues that I think may benefit the people and the nation,” he said.

Earlier, Opposition lawmakers from Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS staged a walkout in protest after their objections to Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof’s selection as Speaker went unheeded.

Anifah and Rembau MP Khairy were one of the noticeable few who stayed put in the lower House.

Khairy has since commented that a walkout "is not the way to protest” and his decision came out of respect for the House.

The Opposition group later returned after Mohd Ariff was appointed to complete their own swearing-in ceremony.