First orang asli MP Ramli takes oath of office in Parliament
KUALA LUMPUR: Former police officer, Ramli Mohd Nor officially became the first Orang Asli to be MP after sworn in as Cameron Highlands’s elected representative in Parliament today. Ramli, also from the Semai tribe, sworn in front of Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, at 10.05am this morning.
The swearing-in ceremony which preceded the House of Representatives today was also witnessed by Cabinet members and other MPs from the government and the opposition.
After Ramli was sworn in, Mohamad Ariff congratulated him, especially over the victory of the Cameron Highlands Parliamentary Election in January. “Today’s swearing-in ceremony is also a historic point for the House of Commons as for the first time the MPs from the Orang Asli communities in the Peninsula have been elected by the democratic process.
“I hope that the Honorable can contribute to this House and the country and to serve it excellently,” he said.
After taking the oath, the Dewan Rakyat’s affairs continued with the Ministerial Inquiry Time (MQT), oral questioning session and debate of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s speech. Ramli won the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat in January when it won 12,038 votes with a majority of 3,238 votes.
He defeated Pakatan Harapan (PH), M Manogaran, who won 8,800 votes, and two independent candidates, Sallehudin Ab Talib (314 votes) and Wong Seng Yee (276 votes). The PRK was held after the Election Court on November 30 declared the victory of Datuk C Sivarraajh from BN in the 14th General Election (GE-14) in May last year in the Cameron Highlands seat, null and void when it was found corrupt practice to influence voters in the area.
