Dayak congress backs Malanjum for new CJ

KUCHING: The Dayak National Congress ( DNC) has called for Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum to be appointed as the new Chief Justice of Malaysia.

DNC president Paul Raja said Sarawak and Sabah officers must also be considered when it came to the promotion of officers in federal agencies. Sarawak and Sabah officers were often overlooked in such exercises, he added.

Paul cited Article 153( 2) of the Federal Constitution pertaining to “the reservation for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak of such proportion ... of positions in the public service …” and also with regard to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63).

Paul said that with the setting-up of the Committee on Institutional Reforms by the Pakatan Harapan federal government, it was only appropriate that the reform of the judiciary be looked into as well.

“We in Sarawak, particularly the Dayak National Congress, would like to see national integration being done all the way to the top,” he said, adding that MA63 was not a trivial document but an important international treaty.

Malanjum’s name has been mentioned after Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin submitted their resignations and will vacate their positions on July 31. — Bernama