In a Twitter post, Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said the decision was agreed upon by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob – who is also an Umno vice-president.

“This is historic as he (Ramli) is the first Orang Asli to be nominated for the post,” said Ahmad.

He said that today is the deadline to submit the names of candidates before Parliament resumes on Oct 25.

A retired senior policeman, Ramli, who won the Cameron Highlands by-election in January 2019, is the country’s only Orang Asli MP.

He headed the commercial crime departments in Negeri Sembilan and Penang and was deputy director at Bukit Aman’s commercial crime investigation department before his retirement in Oct 2018.

The Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker position became vacant following Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said’s resignation on Aug 23.

The Umno Supreme Council member cited moral, personal and political conflicts as reasons for her resignation, adding that she was vacating her seat for the government and opposition to “reset” the Dewan Rakyat at its September sitting.

Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan, who was nominated for the deputy speaker’s post by the government, withdrew his candidacy on Oct 7 to focus on his role as Umno secretary-general.

Teluk Intan MP Nga Kor Ming has also been proposed as a candidate.

Batu Pahat MP Mohd Rashid Hasnon is currently the other deputy speaker.

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