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By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, June 20: Newly-minted Dewan Negara Speaker Tan Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar aims to revolutionise and elevate the Malaysian legislative system to become a world-class Parliament.
He described his appointment as another duty to work for the government and contribute to Malaysia.
“When Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg asked me whether I would mind to become the Senate president, my answer was simple.
“I told him that if my service is required by the nation, I don’t mind returning to work. My sole purpose is to contribute to the nation,” he told DayakDaily via phone call today.
Wan Junaidi who is a former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) and Santubong MP had retired from politics after he chose not to seek reelection in the 15th General Election (GE15) last year.
The 78-year-old’s political career began when he won the Batang Lupar constituency seat in the 1990 general election.
Ever since, he has held various ministerial posts, namely Deputy Minister of Home Affairs from May 2013 to July 2015; Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (July 2015 to May 2018); Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (March 2020 to August 2021); and the most recent being the de facto law minister (August 2021 to November 2022).
Wan Junaidi is known to have a track record of introducing transformative policies and initiatives to improve the government service, demonstrating exemplary leadership, integrity and commitment to serve the people of Malaysia.
During his tenure as Natural Resources and Environment Minister, he has contributed in putting a stop on the long-running haze problem in Malaysia by establishing diplomatic cooperation with Indonesia to tackle air pollution.
His contribution was even recognised by University of Seoul, Republic of Korea who awarded him with the ‘Research Professor’ title back in 2016.
During his time in Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, he has helped the Ministry to simplify the method to apply for government funds which were benefited by a lot of micro businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Arguably, his largest contribution to Sarawak was during his time as law minister, where he had realised Sabah and Sarawak’s long-running struggle to have the Malaysian government recognise the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
It was also under his tenure that an anti-party hopping law was properly established, garnering the unanimous support of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, to put an end to Malaysia’s infamous political crisis of having three prime ministers within three years. — DayakDaily
