Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud reportedly holds absolute discretion on the replacement of new chief minister. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 ― Sarawak will most likely announce its new chief minister tomorrow as there is no provision for an acting chief minister under current state laws, the Borneo Post Online reported today.

Quoting a source, the report said the state is also technically a caretaker government since the sudden demise of Tan Sri Adenan Satem, thus the need to appoint a successor is inevitable.

“Basically, there is no government governing the state when the chief minister has died until the new chief minister is appointed. While waiting for the new chief minister to be appointed, the present government is only a caretaker government.

“However, in a situation like this, by convention, the Head of State could appoint somebody to administer the state as caretaker government so that there is somebody in charge while waiting for the governing party to find a successor,” the source was quoted as saying.

The source reportedly said that Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud holds absolute discretion on the replacement of 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 the Court. That means, Tun is the one making the decision.” he was quoted as saying, referring to Taib.

Pundits told Malay Mail Online that Taib, who served as chief minister for 33 years before stepping down in 2014, still exerts much influence in Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the lynchpin of the state Barisan Nasional coalition where the country’s largest political party, Umno, is absent.

Sarawak has three deputy chief ministers: Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Datuk Abang Johari Openg and Tan Sri James Masing.

Both Uggah and Abang Johari are in PBB, the party that swept the most number of seats in the state legislative assembly and traditionally where the chief minister is from.

Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s unexpected death from heart failure Wednesday, just eight months after he led the BN to its biggest victory in the state election, has left a large hole in Sarawak’s leadership.