KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 ― The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition has asked the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) to reconsider its supposed plan to propose Tan Sri Rais Yatim as Dewan Negara’s president.
In a press statement today, six senators ― Yusmadi Yusoff (PKR), AIman Athirah Al Jundi (Amanah), Datuk Marzuki Yahya (Pejuang), Liew Chin Tong (DAP), Datuk Theodore Lind (Warisan) and Datuk Peter Mojuntin (Upko) ― expressed concern over Rais’s candidacy.
“Dewan Negara is a harmonious house where there’s not a lot of conflict; it needs a president capable of encouraging consensus among its members. We find that Tan Sri Rais Yatim is not the right individual to hold this role.
“We call upon the government to discuss with all political parties represented in Dewan Negara on the position of its next president so that they will appoint a president that can be accepted by all parties,” they said.
Rais was appointed as a senator in the Upper House in June and a Barisan Nasional source previously said he would replace Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran whose term ended the same month.
He is the Negri Sembilan chapter chief for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, and pledged his allegiance to president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during the latter’s power struggle with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
A veteran politician, Rais had been with Umno for decades, holding posts like Negri Sembilan mentri besar; minister of information, communications and culture; and minister of foreign affairs.
He was sacked from Umno together with Tun Daim Zainuddin and Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz during the campaigning period of the 2018 polls for voicing their support of the PH coalition while criticising the party.
He previously quit Umno in the 1990s to join splinter party Semangat 46, before rejoining Umno after the party shut down.
* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.
