Screenshots

Today, PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the President of Court of Appeal and acting Chief Judge, Justice Abdul Hamid bin Haji Mohamad has been appointed Chief Justice with effect from November 1.

At the same time, Zaki Azmi has been made the president of the Court of Appeal, the No. 2 in Malaysia's Judiciary system, albeit without an effective date of commencement of office.

The scenario Screenshots narrated on November 1 is thus becoming true.

With the retirement of Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as the Chief Justice, his successor Abdul Hamid will have some five months to warm the seat before he, too, retires though a 6-month extension after April 2008 is not unimaginable.

The linch to the lynch is who will succeed Abdul Hamid in a short time, and stay on for a reasonable period of time thereafter.

FLASHBACK. This is what I wrote on November 1:

However, the legal circle and the Parliament were rumbling with the possibility that the CJ's post may go to somebody else, who went straight to be a Federal Court judge only a month ago, bypassing the conventional process of having to first serve as a presiding judge in the (lower courts namely the) High Court and the Court of Appeal?

In other words, is the new CJ going to be the same man who had served as a lawyer at various capacities -- as the legal advisor and official position-bearer for Umno, and as a director in Berjaya-related company?

And this is what I warned the Bar Council on November 2: Press on for the setting up of a judicial appointments commission for the appointment and promotion of judges;

For once, let's try to feel good for Malaysia, and for many years to come.

UPDATES: Bernama has the story, time-stamped 4:46pm.