KUALA LUMPUR – Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) chairman Datuk Rahmat Mohamad has resigned from his post effective August 31 – two years before the end of his tenure.
In a statement announcing the resignation, the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division said that pending the appointment of a new Suhakam chairman by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the government will be electing a temporary chairman to take over related tasks.
“To ensure Suhakam’s smooth governance during the transition period, the government will appoint a temporary chairman in the near future to carry out the chairman’s duties until the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints a new chairman.”
The statement added that Rahmat’s resignation was “voluntary”.
Rahmat, who was appointed as Suhakam chairman on July 1 last year for the period of 2022 to 2025, had previously been criticised by several non-governmental organisations, including reform movement Aliran, after he filed a defamation suit against Suhakam deputy secretary Shahizad Sulaiman.
The suit, which has since been dropped, was filed after Shahizad lodged a formal complaint accusing Rahmat of racial discrimination and abuse of power.
In June, Aliran said that the legal suit constitutes an alleged attempt to circumvent internal investigations into the complaint and implies a “reprehensible power play”.
While human rights watchdog group Suara Rakyat Malaysia commended Rahmat for withdrawing the suit, it also voiced concerns that as long as Rahmat remains in office, the actual and perceived risks of investigation processes being compromised will remain.
Besides that, the coalition of civil society organisation’s reform steering committee had earlier pointed out that Rahmat co-authored a paper that objected to Malaysia’s ratification of the Rome Statute and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. – August 28, 2023