His departure comes a year after he was appointed on a three-year contract until 2025.

Rahmat would resign voluntarily, the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Department said in a statement today.

An interim chairman would be named by the government until Rahmat’s replacement is appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Rahmat came under scrutiny following concerns over his defamation suit against a staff member who alleged that he had abused his powers to influence the hiring of a specific candidate for the position of chief assistant secretary.

The staff member had reportedly lodged an official internal complaint against Rahmat in April, which resulted in him filing the suit.

He had denied the allegations in a media interview in which he said all decisions were made with the agreement of Suhakam commissioners and none were made unilaterally.

However, Suhakam later said the suit had been dropped to allow for an independent internal investigation that did not involve any member of the commission.

The commission also said it would conduct an internal audit and ask the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to consider assigning an integrity officer to Suhakam.

In June, Suhakam said the allegation of abuse of power made against Rahmat would be referred to the legal affairs division.

Rahmat will continue to serve as chairman of the Asian International Arbitration Centre Advisory Board for the 2023-2025 session. He had been appointed to the post by the law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said on Aug 23.

“This appointment aligns with his background in international law and his experience as the fifth secretary-general of the Asian African Legal Consultative Organisation,” the legal affairs division said.

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