Sabah Mp Wants Restoration Of Governors Power To Appoint High Court Judges

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Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau said the issue of Article 122AA of the Federal Constitution should be rectified in Parliament rather than referred to the courts.
PETALING JAYA: A Sabah MP has called for Article 122AA of the Federal Constitution concerning the appointment of High Court judges to be restored to its original form.
Wilfred Madius Tangau (Upko-Tuaran) said the 1994 amendment, which resulted in the current form of Article 122AA, had stripped the governors of Sabah and Sarawak of their authority to appoint High Court judges for their respective states.
He also said that Article 122AA was not in line with the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63) as well as key points outlined in the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) report.
According to the IGC and MA63, Tangau said, any amendment to the Federal Constitution concerning Sabah and Sarawak must first obtain the consent of both state governments.
“However, the federal government at the time made the amendment without securing Sabah and Sarawak’s consent.
“As a result, the amendment remains in limbo today as it does not comply with MA63, particularly the IGC report,” he said while debating the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2025 today.
Tangau said that when he previously raised the issue of the constitutionality of the provision in the Dewan Rakyat, then law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar – who is now the Sarawak governor – suggested that the matter be referred to the courts.
“In Tuaran, we believe that any mistake made in the lower house must be rectified within the same forum, not referred to the courts.”
Tangau said in the same vein that the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2025 seeks to provide Parliament with control over how it is run, the original Article 122AA should also be reinstated to allow Sabah and Sarawak’s governors the power to appoint High Court judges for their states.
“This is precisely what I mean by correcting past mistakes – we must restore things to their rightful state,” the former Upko president added.
The 1963 Parliamentary Services Act gave Parliament control over how it was run but the law was repealed in 1992, with the administration of Parliament placed under the civil service, which critics say weakened its independence.
The Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2025, which forms the basis of the Parliamentary Services Bill 2025, was passed in the Dewan Rakyat today with a two-thirds majority after its second and third readings. - FMT

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