KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 2): Senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is not among the 16 candidates elected to the Bar Council for the 2024/2025 term, after placing 22nd out of the 39 candidates who contested.
Shafee — whose high-profile cases include former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-SRC International Sdn Bhd case and the Perwaja criminal breach of trust case where he represented Tan Sri Eric Chia — garnered 1,251 votes in the election, the results of which were released on Friday (Dec 1) night.
Only the top 16 who garnered the most votes get a seat at the Bar Council, which manages the affairs of the Malaysian Bar.
Most of the winning candidates are young and upcoming lawyers known for their involvement in commercial, civil and criminal cases. Twelve of them are among 14 incumbents who sought re-election.
Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah did not contest in the election after holding the post for two terms.
The 16 winning candidates along with the 26 other Bar leaders from the various states will meet to elect the president, secretary, treasurer and other office bearers after the Malaysian Bar annual general meeting, expected to be held in March 2024.
The 12 incumbents among the top 16 are: Fahri Azzat (2,449 votes), Anand Raj R Balasupramaniam (2,413 votes), New Sin Yew (2,301 votes), Kokila Vaani Vadiveloo (2,239 votes), Larissa Ann Louis (2,135 votes), Datuk Azmi Mohd Ali (2,099 votes), Yong Li Hsien (2,081 votes), Tunku Farik Tunku Ismail (1,982 votes), Kee Hui Yee (1,918 votes), Murshidah Mustafa (1,712 votes), Datuk Yasmeen Mohd Shariff (1,598 votes) and Farez Mohd Ali Jinnah (1,473 votes).
The four new candidates among top 16 are: Peter-Douglas Ling (2,091 votes), Gregory Vinesh Das (1,942 votes), Collin Arvind Andrew (1,685 votes), Abhilaash Subramaniam (1,465 votes).
Top candidate Fahri’s prominent cases include Ezra Zaid and his firm ZI Publications that published the Malay translation of Canadian author Irshad Manji’s Allah, Liberty and Love, and a Malay woman who sought to embrace Confucianism and Buddhism.