KAPIT, May 13 — Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi hopes the government will consider appointing a Sarawakian to succeed the late Datuk Mutang Tagal as Senate President.

"If we remember, Tun Dr 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 Dipertua Negeri).

"The post was filled by Mutang but his recent demise 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 opening ceremony) at Rumah Panjang Steward Saba here today.

However, Nanta said he would leave it to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia 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 Dipertua Negeri for a four-year term on January 26 this year.

Mutang, who was appointed as the 20th Senate President on Feb 19, died at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on May 10. — Bernama