New Sabah AG vows to serve with integrity, dedication

Brenndon has been reappointed as the Sabah AG.

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh feels honoured over his return as the Sabah Attorney General.

Soh, who was previously the legal advisor to the Chief Minister, pointed out he was eager to serve the state to the best of his ability.

“I am very grateful for the honour of being appointed as the AG of our great state by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah and am humbled by the trust placed in me by the Sabah Chief Minister for this important role,” he said when contacted on Tuesday (July 2).

“I look forward to serving the state with integrity, dedication, and a strong commitment to upholding the rule of law,” added the former Sabah Law Society (SLS) president.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had earlier on Tuesday announced that Soh was appointed as the state AG, replacing Datuk Nor Asiah Yusof.

Hajiji said the appointment will be effective immediately, adding it will be a period of three years.

Nor Asiah will assume Soh’s previous position as legal advisor to the Chief Minister.

Soh had previously held the state AG’s position from July to November 2020 during the then Parti Warisan-led government.

The move comes nearly two months after the controversial submission by the Sabah government through the then state-appointed counsel Tengku Datuk Fuad Ahmad in the Federal Attorney General’s appeal against a High Court decision to grant the SLS leave to challenge the 40% special constitutional grant provisions.

During the hearing at the Court of Appeal on May 16, Fuad submitted a last-minute application on behalf of the state government to intervene and become co-appellant against the leave granted by the Kota Kinabalu High Court.

Fuad’s arguments to block SLS from being granted leave for judicial review and on Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution as being “an aspiration” triggered a public outcry and political storm in Sabah.

There were calls from both sides of the political divide for Nor Asiah, the state AG then, to resign over the handling of the case.

Nor Asiah and Soh, then the legal advisor to the Chief Minister, however, subsequently took over the case from Fuad, whose services had since been terminated.

The state also withdrew its challenge against the position of SLS in the case.

In a statement on June 18, Soh commended the decision of the Court of Appeal in upholding the position of the High Court in granting leave to the SLS.