KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 —Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun has said that being the Dewan Rakyat Speaker was contrary to his personality, as the role did not allow him to speak much.

When asked on radio channel BFM’s Morning Grille show whether he would accept the post again if offered by the next government after the 15th general election (GE15), he said he would first consult his family as he did previously.

"The biggest challenge for me is not being able to speak because that’s me by nature. I speak a lot,” he said, agreeing with host Shazana Mokhtar that he felt hamstrung by the role.

But Azhar, popular known as Art Harun, also described himself as a man of no political allegiances who has friends on both sides.

"It so happened that prior to [the 14th general election], what I wrote and what I spoke about coincided or was in synergy with what the Pakatan Harapan (PH) people were talking about. But I was never a supporter.

"In fact, I was in an Umno think-tank since the 90s. But I was never a supporter of Umno too,” he said, adding that what he spoke and wrote about always came from a personal need to express his thoughts.

He also said he had viewed the post as a "bridge" between both sides as he had good friends in the government and Opposition. He said this advantage prompted him to take the job when it was offered during a tumultuous period in Malaysian politics.

"All the MPs are my friends. Behind closed doors we will meet and talk about things without ever getting personal, without ever getting emotional.

"I go out and have coffee with everybody, MPs from this side and MPs from that side. We discuss things freely. Nobody has fear of reprisal from me,” he said, adding that he always keeps communications channels open with MPs.

Azhar previously served as Election Commission chairman during the PH administration, before the Perikatan Nasional government led by then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin offered him the role of Dewan Rakyat Speaker.

Before that, he was known as a lawyer with a significant following on social media as a law activist.

His eldest brother, Tan Sri Idrus Harun, was reappointed as attorney general (AG) for another year in March this year, after his two-year term ended.