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©The Sunday Star (Used by permission)
by Muguntan Vanar

Seen as a combative and outspoken leader, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia will have his hands full when Parliament resumes tomorrow. He is banking on his past experience to guide him in his new role as Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.

UP, down and up again — this has been the political career of Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, the new Speaker of the House of Parliament. Reflecting on over two decades of his life in politics, Pandikar recounted the comment his spiritual guru once made to him: “Tanding atau tidak, semua sama. Kau akan menang (whether you contest or not, you will still win in politics).”

At the age of 31, Pandikar became the youngest Speaker of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly shortly after losing in an election; he was made a federal minister by not contesting in an election; and now he is the Barisan Nasional's choice for the prestigious Speaker of Dewan Rakyat just a month after he was dropped as a candidate in the recent general election.

“It seems my Tok Guru's advice is holding firm in my political career,” said the 53-year-old Pandikar who is one of Sabah's most outspoken politicians and who has no qualms taking on political adversaries in pursuit of his ideals.

Whichever way his Tok Guru or his political friends and foes look at him, Sabahans agree that Pandikar is a combative and outspoken leader who has yet to shy away from any battle in any debate.

“He is a good man. He is courageous and reasonable,” said his old-time schoolmate and friend Datuk Juhar Mahiruddin, who is currently the Speaker of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly.

Former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee described him as a man who had firm control of the Legislative Assembly in the days of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS): “Pandikar ruled the House fairly in accordance to the Standing Orders.”

Pandikar entered politics at the age of 27 as an Opposition assemblyman at the height of Datuk Harris Salleh's Parti Berjaya's power in 1982.

The son of an Irranun trader, Mulia Shariff, from Kampung Rampayan in Kota Belud, Pandikar went through a “baptism of fire” in politics at the age of 17 when his father and a cousin were thrown in jail to stop them from contesting in elections in 1971.

The arrests were made under the People's Preservation Security Ordinance granted to the Sabah Chief Minister in the wake of the national emergency following May 13, 1969.

It was at this point that Pandikar decided to become a lawyer so that he could fight the injustices he saw during the darks days of the Usno-led state government of Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun. (Usno lost to Parti Berjaya in the 1976 state elections.)

Leaving for England in 1972, he suffered from culture shock in his encounter with the West that made him return to Sabah quietly, slipping into Lahad Datu to find a job at a sawmill. But his father came after him and ordered him back to England in 1974 to complete his studies.

“We were not rich. I had a scholarship from Yayasan Sabah, and I spent the next seven years just concentrating on my studies,” recollected Pandikar who met his Kuala Kangsar-born wife Hadijah Teng Choi Ngan while they were studying at Birmingham University.

On his return to Sabah, he joined the Forestry Department as a legal officer, and then in 1982 Tun Mustapha, through an emissary, asked him to contest for Usno against Berjaya during the general election.

“I was in a fix: here was the man who was responsible for putting my father in jail and they wanted me to contest against Berjaya who helped me in my education. All my father said was 'You go but don't drag me in to meet Tun Mustpaha',” said Pandikar who went on to contest, and lose, the Kota Belud parliamentary seat.

But less than eighth months later, Pandikar won the Usukan state seat on an Usno ticket in a by-election and subsequently proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the then all-powerful Parti Berjaya. “They (Parti Berjaya) enticed me to join them but I refused,” said Pandikar who gained respect when he steadfastly held on to his political ideals.

He eventually fell out of favour with Tun Mustapha in an internal Usno struggle and went on to form Parti Bersih with himself as president and Juhar as secretary- general in 1984.

It was at about this time that Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who had been sacked by Berjaya, wanted to use Pandikar's Bersih party as a vehicle for his political struggle because he was facing difficulties registering Parti Bersatu Sabah.

“I sought the advice of my Tok Guru and that was when he told me that whether I contested or not, I would win,” recalled Pandikar. When Bersih performed disastrously in the 1985 state election, he left the party.

Pairin, however, managed to register PBS, which went on to defeat Berjaya, and Pandikar was offered the post of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1986. He had held the post for barely two years when Pairin asked him to quit amid rumours that he was working with the then deputy chief minister, Datuk Mark Koding, to table a motion of no confidence against Pairin's PBS state government.

In exchange, Pairin offered Pandikar the remaining half of the senator's term of Datuk Hassan Alban Sandukong who moved in as the assembly speaker. Pandikar accepted and was senator for the next 18 months.

“I barely made it to be a senator. I was just 32 and the requirement was 30,” said Pandikar who later joined the late Koding to form Parti Akar, which eventually teamed up with Umno and other Barisan parties to topple PBS in 1994.

Pandikar was president of Akar between 1994 and 1999 and was also a state minister. He dissolved Akar in 1999 to enable him and his party members to join Umno. He was later made senator and minister in the prime minister's department. In the 2004 general election, he won the Tempasuk state constituency for Umno.

Although he remained Kota Marudu Umno division leader, his political future looked bleak when Sabah Barisan chairman Datuk Musa Aman dropped him as a candidate for Tempasuk.

“I thought I was finished,” he confessed during a two-hour interview by the swimming pool of Peak Condominium in Kota Kinabalu where he lives with his family.

But just when he thought he was at the rock bottom of his political career after the March 8 elections, the call came that he was to be the Speaker. And the words of his Tok Guru rang through his mind again.

“I don't how long I will be the Speaker. I may be the shortest, who knows,” said Pandikar, laughing and wondering what awaits him next in his political career.

Trying to be fair is tough

Q & A interview with Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia who has been selected by Barisan Nasional to be sworn in as the eighth Speaker of Parliament.

Q: How do you feel about being selected to be the Dewan Rakyat Speaker?

A: I had mixed feelings when I first heard the news that my name was being put up as one of the candidates for Speaker. What ran through my mind was 'Oh God, am I capable of being the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat?' because it never crossed my mind as I had just been dropped as a candidate.

The most painful thing for a politician is when you are not picked as a candidate, and if you are not picked for reasons known to you. If you were told beforehand, maybe you could condition your mind but when I was told the news, I told myself I did not know if I would still survive as a politician.

The second thought was whether I could handle this because this is a different parliament altogether compared to the previous one. Then I said why not; after all, my job is just to sit there like a referee. Meetings and sittings of Parliament, of course, are governed by Standing Orders. If you are fair to everybody then they will respect your decisions.

The third thought, of course, is the office of the Speaker itself. You know it is not what some people think – you sit there and just that. No, the office of the Speaker as I understand it to be is like when I was the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Speaker. You are like a judge.

In Britain, the Westminster Speaker is the sixth, protocol-wise, from the royalty and what I understand is that when you stand for an election, there is even a convention that a Speaker must not be challenged.

Q: What do you think made the Barisan Nasional leaders (BN) propose your name? How do you feel about the Opposition not putting up a candidate for the post?

A: That I do not know. The criterion for a Speaker, first and foremost, is a legal background.

Second, they think that you have the credibility to be a Speaker and be respected by the MPs. Of course, that respect comes if you have sufficient experience and the maturity to hold the post.

I suppose these were all put together and when I look back at my political experience – I have been senator, speaker of the state, federal minister, state minister – and taking that into consideration, I thought that is why they mentioned my name.

Q: How do you feel being the first Sabahan to hold a post traditionally held by Malays from Umno? Do you think your selection has anything to do with the fact that Sabah and Sarawak MPs command 54 seats and they hold the trump card in keeping the government of the day afloat?

A: I cannot answer the second limb of the question, because the decision was made by different people.

As for the first limb of the question, I think as far as Umno politics and national politics are concerned, this is recognition by the top leadership of the quality of Barisan leaders, particularly from Sabah and Sarawak, in that they are comparable to those in the peninsula. Otherwise, whatever number of seats you have, they will not pick you.

Q: Do you view this as a historic move for East Malaysia with Sarawak's Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and Sabah's Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin leaders of the Backbenchers Club and with Deputy Speakers likely to come from these states as well?

A: I think it is historical because unless you have the absolute trust of the government of the day, you don't dream about holding posts like this. So I think the element of trust now on East Malaysian politicians by the top leadership is there. They are beginning to recognise, like I said, the quality of leadership from the East, plus the commitment of the leaders to government policies.

Q: What challenges do you foresee in a House where the Barisan does not hold a two-thirds majority and a formidable Pakatan Rakyat is ready to raise issues regarding the credibility of Pak Lah's administration?

A: I personally don't see any problem although the perception is that it is going to be a different Parliament or it's going to be heated and the picture painted is that every Parliament sitting is going to be heated. I don' t see it that way. Of course, in any Parliament in the world, there will be heated debates at certain times particularly involving complex issues.

What you have to remember is that both sides of the aisles are actually representatives of the people. I am sure veteran

politicians like (Lim) Kit Siang, Karpal (Singh), Tan (Seng Giaw) and (Datin Seri) Wan Azizah don't want to portray

themselves as just Opposition for the rest of their lives.

It has been proven recently that people sitting there like the Mentri Besar of Selangor, Perak, and Kedah and the Chief Minister of Penang know how these things are conducted in their respective states.

Those states also have opposition from the BN. I think they will behave in such a way that they would give their answers, being in government. I suppose they will bring that attitude and feeling to Parliament. They will be reasonable.

Like Teresa Kok, she was vocal and passionate in her debate when I was a minister. Now that she is an exco member in Selangor, she would know that it would be different when you are purely Opposition and now in government. You can have both feelings. An Opposition that has never been in government would have a different attitude.

I have been on both sides – in Opposition and in Government. I know how it feels.

Q: Are you comfortable with the idea of live telecasts of question and answer sessions? What is your advice to MPs, given that several in the past are perceived to have made fools of themselves with their remarks and behaviour?

A: Personally, I am (comfortable) because there are countries in the Commonwealth which practise this. My only fear is because of the live telecast, there will be individuals from either side of the aisles who will take advantage for political mileage.

If that happens, it is bad for the country.

You can debate but it must not be taken personally. The Westminster style is like this. In England, for instance, being an MP is like being in an exclusive club and after that they can still talk and laugh about it.

But what I notice from the previous Parliament is this. There are certain members who are willing to utter words, which

they know as unparliamentary. And I don't think they will dare to do it outside the chamber.

If they behave themselves during the live telecast, I think Parliament will have more respect.

Q: You were once Sabah Assembly Speaker. What were the tough situations?

A: The toughest one is when you try to be fair, your colleagues will feel that you are with the other side. But then again you have to take it in your stride because what is fair to one person is not fair to the other.

Q: There is the perception among the people that questions deemed sensitive to the Government are pushed back. What will your criteria be for selecting which questions to be answered first? Would you set some guidelines?

A: From my experience as a Speaker in the state, the first 10 questions would be determined by their nature and who should answer them. Normally, the first, second, and third questions would be answered by the Prime Minister, his deputy and in accordance to seniority.

Of course, it is not strictly that. If the question is the issue of the day and if the Speaker thinks that it ought to be given an answer, then it would be.

With only an hour allocated for question time, you want to be choosy in determining what should be the issue of the day. Priority must be given to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister and questions from the Opposition heads.

Q: These days, bloggers will be watching and will be critical. How are you going to look at such criticisms that appear in cyberspace?

A: In life you are bound to have criticisms and, ideally, criticisms like what you have in blogs of Western democracies.

But sometimes you wonder where the bloggers' ideas come from, whether they are from the same person or whether they reflect the feeling of the majority.

Some of them may not even know the rules – whether it is defamatory or passionate or whether it is impossible to implement. And how many people read them – maybe 10% or 20% of Klang Valley?

But the Government is formed by the majority of the rakyat who live in the rural areas and don't read such issues.

I am sure the issues raised are almost the same as those raised by bloggers. You know elections are won and lost not purely because of that. Ideally, good ideas must not be left at websites. They must be accessible to everybody.

Q: Given the current political scenario, are you prepared for a motion of no confidence to be tabled for the first time in Parliament?

A: I am prepared for anything because politics is the game of the possible.

What happens today might not happen tomorrow. Today you might be a good colleague to a person and the next day that person might be opposing you. Who would have thought Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would become an Opposition head when only 10 years ago he was seen as heir apparent to the prime minister?

Assuming that MPs do not behave, what happened in Taiwan can even happen in the Malaysian Parliament, and I am prepared for that.

Q: What are your wishes during your term as Speaker?

A: What I wish for is for the judiciary to be reformed, and for Parliament to be respected by not only a few but by the nation itself.

I wish for it to be a good Parliament and the deliberations must be good, the debate of good quality, and no unparliamentary words thrown about.

I wish that all the MPs would think before speaking.

Last but foremost, I wish it will be a Parliament that is seen to be very democratic and like a gentleman's club where every MP makes sense when they talk and people will listen to them.

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