crisis after being nominated by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin His controversial appointment motion moved in advance by Muhyiddin following an impromptu motion to unseat incumbent Mohamad Ariff first leaving himself the single nomination and candidacy for the vacant position. The motion seconded by Senior Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali, succeeded with a 111–109 vote. He had overseen the suspension of Parliament due to the proclamation of the 2021 Malaysian state of emergency from January to August which had also witnessed the flip-flop enactment and revocation of Emergency Ordinance (EO), to prevent or delay any election to keep power by hiding behind the motive to curb COVID-19 pandemic has led to his failures to protect the rights of parliamentarians of the house. The replacement of Ismail Sabri Yaakob of Barisan Nasional (BN) as the new Prime Minister of the PN government in August 2021 allowed controversial Azhar to remain as Parliament Speaker. Controversies and issues Azhar has continued defending in favour of the PN - BN government on a number of occasions whenever the administration is in predicaments. He has rejected a motion on 6 October 2021 proposed by Opposition Leader, Anwar Ibrahim to debate the Pandora Papers and dismissed the matter as "not urgent" despite it being widely and internationally considered a big amount of money being illegally siphoned and held offshore (outside the country) that must be investigated immediately. On 20 July 2020, Azhar claimed that he did not order a judge to adjourn the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial against former prime minister Najib Razak so that the latter can deliver a speech in parliament. On 20 December 2021, Azhar was criticised in dismissing the demands and calls from MPs to debate the worsening December 2021 Malaysian floods crisis during the parliamentary sitting. On 20 January 2022, Azhar was slammed again for preventing Parliament from debating the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki shareholding controversy. Honours Honours of Malaysia : Commander of the Order of Meritorious Service (PJN) – Datuk (2019) Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (2021) References 1962 births Living people University of Malaya alumni Alumni of King's College London People from Kedah Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims 20th-century Malaysian lawyers Malaysian civil servants Malaysian secularists Independent politicians in Malaysia Commanders of the Order of Meritorious Service 21st-century Malaysian politicians