KUALA LUMPUR: Ramli Mohd Nor (pix), the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate who won the Cameron Highlands by-election in January, was sworn in as an MP today.
Ramli, who was clad in a black baju melayu, was sworn in before Dewan Rakyat speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff.
His swearing in was the first order of the day when the Dewan Rakyat convened yesterday.
Ramli won the seat on Jan 26, garnered a total of 12,038 votes, beating Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Manogaran (8,800 votes), and independent candidates Sallehudin Ab Talib (314 votes) and Wong Seng Yee (276 votes).
The Cameron Highlands by-election was triggered after the Election Court, on Nov 30, declared BN’s win there in the 14th General Election null and void after ruling there were elements of bribery to sway votes.
The High Court later on Dec 13 nullified the result for the seat.
Mohamad Ariff congratulated Ramli following his swearing-in and pointed out that the latter was the first Orang Asli to be sworn in as an MP in the Dewan Rakyat through a democratic process.
He also announced Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the new opposition leader, replacing Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who relinquished the position after he went on leave as Umno president in December.
