Wan Junaidi received his instrument of appointment from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, at Istana Negara today, Bernama reported.

The appointment takes effect today and will end on Jan 26, 2028.

The King also conferred Wan Junaidi the country’s highest award – the Darjah Kebesaran Seri Maharaja Mangku Negara (SSM), which carries the title “Tun”.

Wan Junaidi, a former seven-term MP, takes over the top state post in Sarawak from Abdul Taib Mahmud, who had held the position since March 2014.

Taib was appointed to the governor’s post after stepping down as the Sarawak chief minister, a post he held for nearly 33 years.

Former law minister Wan Junaidi was made Senate president last June but resigned from the post earlier this month.

Wan Junaidi joined the police force in 1964 and later became an inspector in the General Operations Force.

He went on to study law at the University of Buckingham, England, in 1978 before pursuing a career as a lawyer.

He later joined Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and won the Batang Lupar parliamentary seat in the 1990 general election and retained it for another two terms.

Wan Junaidi then won the Santubong parliamentary seat in 2004, going on to defend it for four consecutive terms until the 2022 general election (GE15).

At the federal level, he was appointed the deputy speaker of the Dewan Rakyat from 2008 to 2013.

He held various key portfolios in the government, such as deputy home minister (2013-2015), natural resources and environment minister (2015-2018) and entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister (2020-2021).

His last Cabinet position was as the law minister from 2021 to 2022, during which he pushed through amendments to the Federal Constitution which enacted the anti-hopping law, and strengthened Borneo’s rights in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.