However, the final decision is up to Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri Taib Mahmud.
By convention, the chief minister should come from the largest party in the state — the PBB.
The Star reported that although several leaders in the party hierarchy had been mentioned as possible successors to the late Adenan Satem, Abang Johari was seen as the obvious choice.
He is Deputy Chief Minister 2 and also PBB deputy president.
The other possibilities are PBB senior vice-presidents Douglas Uggah Embas (Deputy Chief Minister 1) and Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, according to political observers.
Assoc Prof Dr Jeniri Amir of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) told The Star that Abang Johari was the party’s second in command, had wide experience and was well-respected by other (Sarawak Barisan Nasional) component parties.
Prof Stanley Bye Kadam Kiai, also of Unimas, agreed that Abang Johari was the likely choice.
Meanwhile, the Borneo Post reported that the new Sarawak chief minister was expected to be sworn in tomorrow.
It said there was no provision in the Sarawak Constitution for an acting chief minister.
It quoted a “reliable source well-versed with the state laws and system” as saying that when the chief minister died or resigned the state Cabinet had to resign or was deemed to have resigned.
Following the death of chief minister Adenan Satem on Wednesday the state is now technically governed by a caretaker government, hence the urgency to appoint a new chief minister.
“Appointment of the chief minister is the absolute discretion of the head of state. The exercise of his discretion cannot be challenged in court. That means, Tun (Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud) is the one making the decision,” The Borneo Post quoted the source as saying.
The source said when Sabah chief minister Pairin Kitingan resigned in 1994, his entire Cabinet had to resign.
The report quoted the source as saying: “This was decided by the court in 1994 when Tan Sri Pairin Kitingan resigned as chief minister due to the defection of his people. One of his ministers Datuk Amir Kahar Tun Mustapha was the deputy chief minister in Pairin’s cabinet.
“After Pairin resigned, he (Amir) wanted the court to declare that he never resigned and still remained a deputy chief minister. But the court in Sabah ruled that when Pairin resigned from his position, the rest of the Cabinet must also be deemed to have been dissolved.
“This is so because the Cabinet ministers were appointed on the advice of the chief minister who has resigned.”