MIRI, Feb 12 — Former Bukit Mas MP Datuk Mutang Tagal is speculated to have been nominated as the next Dewan Negara president.
If elected to the post, this will make him the first Sarawakian native to be Senate president.
According to sources, a special Dewan Negara sitting will be held next week, during which the new Senate president will be elected.
When contacted by The Borneo Post, Mutang only said: “Any official announcement should come from the Prime Minister’s Office.”.
The post of Dewan Negara Speaker has been vacant since Tun Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar stepped down after being appointed as Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak.
Mutang, who is Lun Bawang, hails from Buduk Nur in Ba Kelalan and is a lawyer by training.
His political career started as a Member of Parliament for Bukit Mas (before it was redelineated into the current Lawas and Limbang parliamentary constituencies).
Mutang, 69, is also the brother of former Assistant Minister of Communications and the first Ba Kelalan state assemblyman, the late Dato Dr Judson Sakai Tagal.
He is currently president of the Orang Ulu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Honourary Consul of Romania in Sarawak. — Borneo Post
