KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 ― Barisan Nasional’s Ramli Mohd Noor was sworn in to the Dewan Rakyat today, marking the first Orang Asli federal lawmaker in the country.

The Cameron Highlands MP was welcomed and congratulated by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.

"For the first time, an MP from the Orang Asal community in Malaysia has been elected as an MP via a democratic election,” the Speaker said as he wished Ramli the best in carrying out his duty.

The 61-year-old retired policeman Ramli, a political greenhorn, is from the Semai tribe. In the Cameron Highlands by-election in January, he won 12, 078 votes, beating PH candidate, lawyer M. Manogaran by 3,238 votes, and kept the Pahang parliamentary seat firmly within BN’s grasp since it was first created in 2003.