Govt has decided on Senate president nominee, says Fahmi

Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will announce the government’s nominee for the Senate presidency soon.

PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet has decided on a candidate for the vacant Dewan Negara president post, following Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s appointment as the governor of Sarawak.

Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim would announce the name soon and that the post would be filled before Senate proceedings begin in March.

“The Cabinet was informed today about the vacancy of the position, following Wan Junaidi’s (resignation from the post and subsequent) appointment as the governor of Sarawak.

“A candidate has been nominated, but we will follow the process (of appointing the Senate president),” he said at a press conference here.

Wan Junaidi, a former law minister, was made Senate president last June but resigned from the post earlier this month to be sworn in as the eighth governor of Sarawak on Jan 26.

Meanwhile, Fahmi, who is the communications minister, said his ministry was still in the process of appointing a new director-general for the community communications department, or J-Kom.

“The candidate has been approved and (the appointment) is now in progress,” he said.

The position has been vacant since its former head, Agus Yusoff, resigned on Nov 16, after a lewd video recording of a man resembling Agus and a J-Kom official named Abdul Wahab Abdul Kadir Jilani went viral.

Separately, Fahmi reminded Malaysian podcasters to exercise self-control and mindfulness when expressing their thoughts on their platforms.

He said the government had no intention of regulating or controlling podcasts at the moment but might take action against those who violated the law on their platforms.

This comes after Hasli Ikhwan Arif Zul Hasli, also known as “Hot Daddy”, joined a podcast despite being charged with selling videos of himself engaging in sexual activities with multiple women on social media.

Fahmi also responded to Bersih’s call on the government to expedite reforms, saying Putrajaya would consider all views raised by NGOs and the public.

He said there was a special committee headed by economy minister Rafizi Ramli that was tasked with studying reforms that could be implemented based on the various government parties’ manifesto.

“The best platform to discuss this matter, for the government, is at the special committee I mentioned,” he added.

Earlier, election watchdog Bersih said it would not hesitate to mobilise street rallies again if the government did not commit to institutional and political reforms.

Bersih had held protests since 2007 to shine a light on alleged electoral malpractices and to push for fair elections. It also held rallies in 2015 and 2016 over the 1MDB scandal.

The iconic Bersih 2.0 rally in 2011 saw an estimated 50,000 people gather in downtown Kuala Lumpur with more than 1,000 reportedly arrested.