KAPIT: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general Alexander Nanta Linggi hopes the government will consider appointing a Sarawakian to succeed the late Mutang Tagal as Senate president.
“If we remember, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was the president (of Dewan Negara) and after a year he had to relinquish the post to become TYT (Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri).
“The post was filled by Mutang but his recent death means three years or one term as Senate president has yet to be completed (by a Sarawak representative),” he told reporters after attending the “mangkung tiang” (house warming) at Rumah Panjang Steward Saba here today.
However, Nanta said he would leave it to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim to decide on the next Senate president.
Wan Junaidi was appointed as the 19th Senate president on June 19, 2023 but resigned to become the Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri for a four-year term on Jan 26 this year.
Mutang, who was appointed as the 20th Dewan Negara president on Feb 19, died at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on May 10.