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UPDATED VERSION. It has been some 12 days of intense campaigning and the foregone results were re-affirmed by the Permatang Pauh voters last night.

Here I am, taking the 07:15am flight to KL to attend Parliament sittings.

Last night, several of us Pakatan Rakyat MPs were discussing strategies and action plan to corner the Speaker of Dewan Rakyat for his statement in Bernama that aroused much of our grave concerns.

August 25, Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia was quoted as saying that 'the new Permatang Pauh MP is unlikely to be sworn in at Parliament this week'. Quote:

"There is no necessity for him to be sworn in immediately. No necessity for that. Not that there is a power struggle," Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said.

"Why is there a rush? We cannot assume that the person who wins the election is eager to take an oath and debate with the Speaker.

"Who knows? He may want to go for a holiday or perform the 'umrah'," he told reporters at his office in Parliament here Monday, when asked if the new MP would be sworn in immediately after winning the election Tuesday.

The Speaker obviously has his wisdom disengaged for uttering those words, and making presumptive suggestions of what the new MP might do after the by-election. People in his position should behave like a judge, a recluse be that as it may, and dispense his words based solely on facts and rationale, not on his personal imagination.

We take note that the Speaker took an insurance by explaining that he would have to wait for the official notice from the Election Commission on the matter before fixing a date on the oath-taking ceremony. These are the right words and he should have shut up after saying just that.

As the Parliament is currently in session until August 29 before we break for bulan puasa and hari raya, the new MP, in this case it's Anwar Ibrahim, should be sworn in -- coincidentally -- as the Parliament sits.

We want Anwar to be the Opposition Leader before Abdullah Badawi presents his Budget 2009 this Friday. Admittedly, Anwar has a far bigger role cut out for him after re-entering Parliament -- one of which is to stop the rot in governance this country is being malaised.

Going by Parliamentary precedent

This morning, when the Speaker turns up for duty at 10am, we will grill him if he knew of a precedent.

In 1983, Dr Chen Man Hin (DAP) was sworn in within 36 hours after he recaptured the Seremban constituency in a by-election after incumbent Lee San Choon (MCA) resigned and created a vacancy.

UPDATES: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia announced that the newly-elected Permatang Pauh MP will be sworn in in the Dewan Rakyat tomorrow when the sitting resumes at 10am.

The Speaker's office confirmed receiving the letter from the Election Commission on the Permatang Pauh by-election result this morning.

On the other hand, Pakatan Rakyat has informed the Speaker's office that Anwar Ibrahim is chosen to be the new Opposition Leader.

The notice was submitted to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia at 4pm today. The letter wqs signed by PKR whip Azmin Ali, DAP whip Dr Tan Seng Giaw and Ustaz Hadi Awang, president of PAS.

We expect the Parliament to pronounce Anwar as the new Opposition Leader, after he is sworn in as an MP, tomorrow.